Warren County Graduate Kathleen Grant Earns Fairmont State’s Top Scholarship

Kathleen Grant is leaving Warren County High School with more than a diploma. She is heading to Fairmont State University with the school’s top academic award for incoming first-year students, a full-ride Presidential Scholarship that recognizes academic achievement, leadership potential, and a commitment to excellence.

Grant, who graduated from Warren County High School with a 4.3056 grade point average and ranked fifth in her class, plans to study architecture at Fairmont State. She was one of eight students selected for the 2026 Presidential Scholarship after a competitive process that included applications, essays, and on-campus interviews.

“I had no idea that I was going to get the scholarship,” Grant said. “It was a really kind of long process.”

That process began with a general scholarship application at Fairmont State. Grant then wrote a separate essay for the Presidential Scholarship. She was later narrowed down to a group of about 20 students invited to campus for interviews.

“I had a panel interview with staff members and then one with the president of the university and one with the head of the architecture department, which is what I’m going to be majoring in,” she said.

A few weeks later, the call came.

“They told me that I was one of eight students who got the scholarship,” Grant said.

Fairmont State officials said the Presidential Scholarship covers tuition and mandatory fees, room and board for students living on campus, and up to $500 per semester for textbooks through the Fairmont State Online Bookstore. The 2026 award is especially notable because it marks the first year out-of-state students were eligible, making Grant part of the university’s first group of Presidential Scholars from outside West Virginia.

“The Presidential Scholarship represents the highest academic honor Fairmont State awards to incoming students,” Fairmont State President Mike Davis said. “These recipients have distinguished themselves through exceptional academic accomplishment, leadership, and commitment to excellence.”

Davis said the university is proud to welcome its first out-of-state recipients, calling it “a milestone that reflects Fairmont State University’s expanding reach and growing reputation beyond West Virginia.”

For Grant, the achievement reflects years of work in the classroom and a wide range of interests outside it. She is a musician, artist, dancer, volunteer, and future architecture student who has learned to balance achievement with creativity.

Music has long been part of her life. Her main instrument is the tuba, which she played in band, but she has also started learning the mandolin.

“Within the last couple of months, I started playing the mandolin, which is a lot of fun,” she said. “I started writing my own music with that.”

Grant said her musical interests lean toward folk music and Americana. She also plans to keep music in her life at Fairmont State by auditioning for the marching band.

“I’m going to send in my audition for the marching band soon, which I plan to play tuba there as well,” Grant said.

She also dances at Jig ’n Jive Dance Studio and hopes to join the dance team at Fairmont State. Through the National Honor Society, she has been involved in volunteer work and hopes to continue serving others in college.

“I do a lot of volunteering,” she said. “I want to do a lot more community service as well.”

Grant chose architecture because it brings together two subjects she has always enjoyed: art and math.

“I’ve kind of always had an interest in both art and math,” Grant said. “Those are two really big subjects for me. So I was like, architecture is a pretty decent blend of both of those.”

She is especially interested in historical preservation, a field focused on protecting, restoring, and reimagining older buildings.

“I’ve kind of been leaning more towards historical preservation,” she said. “That’s what I think I want to do.”

Grant plans to spend four years at Fairmont State and then pursue a master’s degree. She said she may stay at Fairmont or consider the University of Virginia for graduate school. While she is not sure where she will eventually settle, she has thought about the Northeast because of its historic buildings.

“I’ve always kind of thought about going up in the Northeast,” Grant said. “I just think it’s really nice up there. But I’d also really like to travel a lot, see all kinds of different places.”

As part of her scholarship application, Grant wrote about three things that matter most to her. Her answer was simple but revealing: music, art, and positivity.

“I put music as a big thing for me, of course,” she said. “And then I put art because I draw a lot. I like to paint. And I put positivity and kindness. It’s a really big thing for me.”

That outlook helped shape her high school years, including the challenges that came during and after COVID-19. Grant was in sixth grade during the 2019-2020 school year, when students were pushed into remote learning and many friendships were interrupted.

“It was a bit of a struggle,” she said. “I definitely think I kind of started focusing on more things than just school because I was very school-focused in elementary school.”

Friendships became more important after that period of isolation.

“In seventh grade, I lost most of my friends because we just didn’t see each other ever,” she said. “And I had probably one friend who’s still my best friend right now.”

That experience helped Grant see the value of connection, not just achievement. Her strong grades and scholarship success stand out, but so does the balance she has built through music, dance, art, service, and friendships.

Selection for the Presidential Scholarship is competitive. Fairmont State said applicants must complete an application and an essay, have a cumulative high school GPA of at least 3.5, earn a composite ACT score of at least 26 or an SAT score of at least 1180, and take part in an on-campus interview. To keep the award, students must meet yearly GPA and credit-hour requirements.

Grant is now preparing for a new chapter at Fairmont State with a full scholarship, a tuba, a growing interest in mandolin, and plans to study how buildings can be designed and preserved.

For a student who values art, math, music, kindness, and community, architecture may be a natural next step. Grant is not just planning a career. She is building a future, one thoughtful choice at a time.

Town Talk, sponsored by National Media Services, Inc., is a Royal Examiner series that introduces you to local entrepreneurs, business owners, nonprofit leaders, and public officials who help shape Warren County. Conversations cover a wide range of topics about our community and the people making a difference.