Smile

What makes Laura Vaughan smile? “The thing that makes me smile the most is seeing young 4-H’ers start to grow up in the program and once they get toward the end of their journey, they really start to blossom,” said the 19-year-old Noblesville resident, a 10-year Hamilton County 4-H’er and former Junior Leader who was found in 2021 helping with the Hamilton County 4-H Fair in Noblesville. Today’s feature is a look back at one of The Times’ previous Faces of Hamilton County. During the 2021 4-H Fair, she earned multiple scholarships and was one of two county 4-H’ers presented the coveted Tenure Award with scholarship money from Farm Bureau. “My biggest achievement is being awarded the Cornelius Vanderbilt scholarship at Vanderbilt University” in Nashville, Tenn. “It’s a full-ride scholarship so I get all of my tuition covered. I was so excited to be handpicked from a pool of, I think 45,000 applicants, to represent my school in such an amazing way.” Since age 10 until she graduated high school, she was a youth volunteer at Conner Prairie. The daughter of George and Lisa Vaughan, she was a 4-H Fair Queen contestant in the 2021 Queen Pageant and was first runner-up in the 2020 4-H Fair Queen Pageant. This year marks the 63rd year for the pageant, which is now accepting entries for the 2023 Queen Pageant through May 15.