INDIANAPOLIS — It's 8:30 in the morning at Hillcrest Country Club in Indianapolis.
Hole one is a par 4.
A golfer named Nick Tumminello steps up to tee off with his caddie, Micah Kouadio, by his side.
"I don't really know golf very much," Kouadio said. "It will be something new. Get to try it. I mean, I like Tiger Woods."
That's what the Cathedral High School senior told herself nearly four years ago when she started caddying as a freshman.
She says she still remembers her first golfer.
"He was like, 'Don't be nervous. I'm really nice, I promise,'" Kouadio said, 'and I was like, 'OK!'"
Since then, Kouadio's sneakers have logged thousands of steps on the course.
"You really do get your steps in," Kouadio said. "It is a lot of steps."
Vince Saul, a member at Hillcrest Country Club and a director with the Western Golf Association, also helps mentor the caddies at Hillcrest.
"You know, you are raking bunkers," Saul said. "You are cleaning golf balls. You are replacing divots. Things that like, pretty simple stuff."
Saul said the relationship his caddies build with the golfers is even more important. He said the real benefit of caddying is spending time with adults in the community.
"Many of whom are role models and mentors to these kids," Saul said.
Kouadio said she has picked up quite a bit of golf etiquette over her years as a caddie.
"Golfers like for you to stay silent when they're hitting," Kouadio said. "This bag never touches that green. It leaves marks, and that's not very helpful."
Saul said it was Kouadio's work ethic, academic excellence and outstanding character that helped her earn the Chick Evans Scholarship.
It's a four-year, full tuition and housing scholarship valued at $125,000, presented by the Western Golf Association.
It's awarded to the top caddies across the country and is the nation's largest privately-funded scholarship program.
This year, 18 Indiana students received the honor, with 340 caddies getting the Chick Evans Scholarship nationwide.
Saul said it started in 1930. It's inspired by a young, talented golfer, Charles "Chick" Evans Jr., who dropped out of college because he couldn't afford to stay on campus.
Now, the foundation that bares his name helps send deserving caddies to college every year.
Back in Indianapolis at Hillcrest, Kouadio's golfer, Nick, is also an Evans Scholar.
Kouadio said caddying often resembles life.
"It's hard, but you get through it," Kouadio said. "You have good days and bad days, and you just have to keep trying."
She said winning this scholarship on the course will tremendously help her life off the course.
"My mom is a single mom, and she had to raise me and my brothers," Kouadio said. "She's done a lot. I've always gone to private school and gotten what I've asked for, so it's just kind of like a 'paying her back' in a way."
"Micah is a great young lady," Saul said. "Her story is really awesome."
Kouadio said becoming an caddie, and eventually an Evans Scholar, has changed her life. She said other students can do it too, even if they don't know much about the game.
"Along the 18 holes, you kind of have a way to figure it out," Kouadio said. "You'll get there."
"These kids come here a little nervous, a little scared, a little shy," Saul said, "but the membership is really here to work with the young people."
Saul said Hillcrest just wrapped up training its next class of caddies, which is about 40 students. He said there are now about 65 students on the caddying roster at his club.
"Hillcrest is just one of many clubs across the city, but there's a great opportunity here for young people," Saul said.
Plus, organizers said the opportunity is about more than just a part-time job, mentorship, or even a way into college.
"Many of these kids, whether they get the Evans scholarship or not, will come back to us and look for internships and even jobs out of college," Saul said.
As for Kouadio, she said she is still deciding where she wants to go to college, but she knows she wants to be a surgeon and serve her community.
Scholarship winners in Indiana, according to Saul, can attend Indiana University, Purdue University, or in some cases, the University of Notre Dame.
"Most of these kids are leaders in their communities," Saul said, "whether that is through their church or their school or their sports team. They are not afraid of hard work."