Her life seems to be moving at the speed of an Indy car.
And how appropriate that seems for Elizabethtown native and Columbus East High School graduate Molly Connnor, 21, recently named one of 33 500 Festival Princesses.
Connor, vice president of the student body at Indiana University in Bloomington and past president of her Zeta Tau Alpha sorority, will graduate a year early in May with a 3.7 grade-point average and a degree in public management and leadership. She will leave Indiana the day after the May 27 classic Indianapolis 500 race for a 22-hour trip to a summer internship beginning May 30 at Goldman Sachs financial firm in Salt Lake City, Utah.
If she seems like a driven young woman, so be it. Besides, she left high school already claiming 33 college credits, thanks to special classes at East.
“My parents (Dave and Kate Connor) always have instilled a drive and a passion within me,” Molly Connor said.
For instance, she became involved in student government in the primary grades at St. Bartholomew Catholic School locally.
“I’m not the least bit surprised,” said her mom of her daughter’s general motivation. “In middle school, Molly already was thinking about picking out a college.”
The 500 Festival Princesses participate in the 500 Festival Leadership Development Program, presented by BKD, which empowers participants to make a positive impact within their community. Since the program’s founding in 1959, nearly 2,000 Indiana women have been selected as a 500 Festival Princess.
Molly Connor readily acknowledged that she loves the program’s emphasis on women as leaders. Part of her princess role will include speaking to elementary school girls in Monroe County about possible careers in science, technology and math careers, along with community involvement and female empowerment.
“That (leadership development) program is the perfect description of our daughter,” Kate Connor said.
Her daughter was quick to emphasize that the princess terminology in this case refers more to crowning achievement in helping others succeed.
“This program is about so much more than a sash and a tiara,” Molly Connor said.
Yet, it will include precisely that on race day when the local princess attends her first 500 — in a sporty vehicle circling the legendary Brickyard in Speedway. The 500 Festival Queen will be chosen May 19.
“The first question my (Cummins Inc. engineer) dad asked about all this was ‘Do I get to drive the pacecar?’” Molly Connor cracked.
But she is hardly pacing herself. After her summer internship, law school awaits in the fall, though she has made no final decision where.
Eventually, she would love to work in shaping state or federal educational policy. She is completing an education-oriented role even now — as a tutor for IU athletes in subjects such as English and Spanish.
“They’re all on a pretty rigorous schedule of their own,” Molly Connor said.
They can be forgiven, however, if keeping pace with a pedal-to-the-metal princess seems royally challenging.
[sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”About Molly Connor” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
Hometown: Elizabethtown
Age: 21
Parents: Dave and Kate Connor
Education: 2015 Columbus East High School graduate and will be a 2018 Indiana University graduate
Major: Public management and leadership, with a Spanish minor
[sc:pullout-text-end]
