BY MEGAN SPRAY
Four years ago, Elias Herrera left Venezuela behind after an athletic scholarship changed his life forever.
For some college athletes, scholarships are more than financial awards – they are access to education, stability and opportunity. At Northwestern Oklahoma State University, athletic scholarships have helped students like Elias Herrera pursue degrees while continuing the sport that shaped their lives. It will do the same for Kylie Adair when she joins the Lady Rangers this fall.
Insight from athletic administration explains the broader impact, including retention and long-term success. Together their perspectives reveal how a single offer can redefine what’s possible.
Herrera is a senior right-handed pitcher on the Ranger baseball team at Northwestern. Originally from Venezuela, he came to the United States after being offered an athletic scholarship that made college financially possible.
For Herrera, that opportunity required more than signing paperwork.
Accepting the scholarship meant leaving his home country and adjusting to a new language, culture and academic system. Four years later, Herrera is in his senior year and hasn’t seen his father in two years because of visa limitations and the political climate. Herrera said the separation has been difficult, but the hardships are outweighed by his passion for the game he loves.
Without athletic aid, Herrera said his future would have likely unfolded much differently.
“I’d probably be back home,” Herrera said. “I would be working, trying to provide for my family. Not playing baseball. It would be a huge difference in my life.”
Instead, the scholarship created access to higher education, advanced training facilities and the chance to compete at the collegiate level. Herrera said it also accelerated his personal growth. He became bilingual, adapted to a new academic system and learned to navigate independence in a foreign country.
While the financial support reduces tuition costs, he said his family still makes sacrifices to cover the remaining expenses – a reminder that scholarships can ease financial burdens to make dreams attainable, but can’t always be eliminated entirely.
Nearly four years later, Herrera is preparing to graduate and stay in the States with hopes to pursue coaching, a career goal he said developed during his time in college. He credits the scholarship for not only allowing him to continue his athletic career but for reshaping what he believed was possible for his future.
While Herrera’s journey reflects international sacrifice, the impact of athletic scholarships is not limited to international students. The impact can be just as meaningful for students who don’t even have to leave home.
For Kylie Adair, a senior at Alva High School, the opportunity from an athletic scholarship means something different – staying close to home and continuing the sport in a Ranger jersey that she has dreamt about since she was little.
Adair is a senior guard for the Alva Ladybug basketball team who has signed to play women’s basketball at Northwestern beginning next fall. For her, the athletic scholarship represents both financial relief and the chance to continue her athletic career at the collegiate level.
Unlike Herrera, Adair isn’t leaving the country to pursue her education; she’s not even leaving her hometown. She will stay in the same community where she grew up. Still, she said the scholarship changes the trajectory of her future in measurable ways.
“It just takes a lot of pressure off,” Adair said. “It makes college feel possible.”
Continuing her education and athletic career at Northwestern is solely because of the athletic scholarship that was offered to her. Had she not received an athletic scholarship to play for the Lady Rangers, the likelihood of her choosing Northwestern was slim.
“If I wouldn’t have gotten a scholarship, I don’t know that I would have stayed,” Adair said. “It would have been really hard to leave, but I don’t know that I would have stayed.”
Adair choosing to stay home and attend Northwestern also adds additional financial help because her father, Matt Adair, works at the university, which makes her eligible for a tuition break. She said the financial support allows her family to focus less on costs and more on preparing for the transition to college.
Beyond the financial impact, she said the offer validated years of early morning workouts, summers filled with travel ball tournaments and countless hours of offseason training.
For Adair, the scholarship does not simply extend her basketball career. It creates access to higher education without the same level of financial uncertainty many students face. She said the athletic scholarship gives her confidence entering her next chapter, knowing both her academic and athletic futures are secure.
Herrera and Adair represent different journeys shaped by the same opportunity. One scholarship entailed leaving the country, learning a new language and adapting to a new life. The other offers community support and continuity for a homegrown athlete.
Yet both athletes share the same responsibility that comes with athletic aid – balancing performance with academic expectations. Maintaining eligibility requires classroom discipline as much as competitive drive. Both said collegiate athletics come with developing a structure of time management, accountability and maturity.
Their stories show the influence athletic scholarships have, but university officials highlight the broader truth of the scholarships where lasting impact is measured in education, growth and opportunity beyond the sport.
Gretchen Jones, assistant director of athletics for compliance and student athletic services, said scholarships are an investment in student-athlete success. Jones has worked with numerous athletes with diverse backgrounds. She sees athletes that come from unfortunate backgrounds and have a path to a better future through sports more often than not, she said.
“A lot of those kiddos that come in would not have even sought after playing sports because they think ‘I can’t financially do that,’ not knowing if there might be a scholarship opportunity behind it,” Jones said. “I think there’s a lot of those kids that wouldn’t even have pursued coming to college if it wouldn’t have been for athletics.”
Jones said reducing financial barriers through athletic scholarships allows student-athletes to focus on academics while maintaining the competitive drive and structure required to compete. Eligibility standards, mandatory study hours and academic monitoring are built into scholarship expectations. She said that accountability often strengthens university retention and degree completion.
Brad Franz, vice president for athletics, has coached in collegiate athletics for years before taking the position at Northwestern. He has firsthand experience recruiting players whose college decisions depend on the financial package offered. He said scholarships frequently determine whether talented athletes can attend school at all.
“For a lot of these guys, it’s the only way they can afford college,” Franz said. “Without it, they’re working full time or they’re not here.”
Franz said he has watched players grow into leaders and graduates who reach their dreams because of the opportunity scholarship support provides. He said while athletics draws them into the university, the long-term outcome is getting their degree.
Research shows athletic scholarships can influence academic presence as well as athletic participation. A study published in the Journal of Issues in Intercollegiate Athletics found significant differences in cumulative grade point average between scholarship and non-scholarship athletes, indicating that access to financial support may correlate with academic performance for the athletes who receive financial aid.
A study by Matthew Arita for the Department of Kinesiology, Sport Studies and Physical Education for SUNY Brockport points to the possibility that scholarship incentives like eligibility requirements and structured support systems can help keep student-athletes engaged in the classroom and their sport.
Whether an athlete is crossing international borders or staying close to home, athletes like Herrera and Adair show how athletic scholarships impact their futures in profound and diverse ways. For some, the financial aid makes college achievable while for others it strengthens confidence and opens doors to opportunity.
Administrators say the benefits of an athletic scholarship extend beyond sports by contributing to retention, academic engagement and long-term impact toward a career. In each scenario, the scholarship impacted more than an opportunity to continue an athletic career; it helped define a path toward education, independence and possibility.
As Herrera prepares to graduate this fall, the scholarship that once carried him thousands of miles from home now carries him toward a future he once thought might be out of reach – a testimony that proves that for many athletes, an offer is more than a roster spot; it’s the start of a new life.