Faith Kelley found exactly what she was looking for at the University of Indianapolis.

The Southwestern High School Class of 2022 salutatorian was admitted to UIndy’s occupational therapy early assurance program which puts her on track for a bachelor’s degree in three years followed by three more years in the occupational therapy program.

“UIndy has the only occupational therapy direct admittance program in Indiana,” said Kelley, the daughter of Curtis and Cindy Kelley.

The campus, located on the south side of Indianapolis, allows Kelley to stay at home while she transitions into college life. Being from a small school, Kelley appreciated the learning environment at UIndy.

“I visited a lot of different colleges and when we went to visit UIndy, the person taking us around was very honest and genuine,” said Kelley. “She really told you like it was and she was very supportive and very helpful.”

Kelley believes the educational environment will be similar to what she enjoyed at Southwestern.

“I think the first thing everyone from Southwestern says is it is a pretty small school,” she said. “I think that is very true in a lot of instances. It was one of the most close-knit groups I’ve ever been around. Everyone knows everyone.

“My teachers were very supportive of everyone that went there. They were very kind and very considerate of us when it came to a lot of things and they made us work hard when we needed to.”

Kelley was involved in basketball, tennis, track and field and soccer while at Southwestern and participated in Academic Team, Sunshine Society, Student Council, SADD, and choir.

She will major in Human Biology as part of UIndy’s 3-plus-3 program.

“I will finish my bachelor’s degree in three years then start the occupation therapy program for three more years,” she explained.

The track is daunting but Kelley should find it easier than preparing to give her salutatorian speech at Southwestern’s graduation ceremony.

“I hate talking in front of people,” she said. “It’s probably one of my worst fears. I practiced a lot the day before, and our valedictorian and class president all practiced with each other which helped out a lot.

“As for writing it, I had no idea what to do. I thought of things that really tried to represent us throughout the years and think about what I wanted people to learn from it.”

When it was over, Kelley felt relieved that the speech went well.

“I am glad I didn’t stutter or do anything dumb or say anything dumb,” she said. “It did go a lot better than I thought it would.”

(This is the ninth in a 10-part series highlighting the Class of 2022 valedictorians and salutatorians from the five Shelby County high schools.)