Rylie Warren
Rylie Warren plans to follow her passions and dive into all of the activities that East Carolina University has to offer.
The 17-year-old Mooresville resident is active in ministry and mission work with Williamson’s Chapel United Methodist Church. She is also an avid swimmer who won all-conference honors every year for Mooresville Senior High School and worked as an instructor for four summers with the Cherry Grove Gators swim team.
Warren intends to get involved with campus ministries and club swimming while majoring in communication with a public relations concentration. She said she’s excited about all of the prospects she will have at ECU, especially as an EC Scholar.
“I feel like I’m blessed to have been selected as an EC Scholar because it’s going to allow me so many opportunities I never would have gotten at another university,” Warren said. “I will get to grow in my leadership skills as well as make new friends and make the most of my college experience.”
EC Scholars is the most prestigious undergraduate award program offered at ECU. The four-year merit scholarship recognizes outstanding academic performance, commitment to community engagement and strong leadership skills. Recipients receive an Honors College scholarship and a stipend for study abroad for a total value of nearly $64,000.
Warren has already started looking at options for study abroad experiences.
“I talked to the director of the communication program and she told me about the different experiences they offer,” Warren said. “One of the things that really popped out to me was going to Japan and doing the program there that focuses on family communication.”
She is familiar with ECU, the Honors College and the EC Scholars program because her sister, Kaylee, will be a sophomore in the program this fall.
“Whenever I have went there to visit her, attended football games or toured the campus, it instantly felt like home to me,” she said. “Everyone is so kind and it felt like a place where I knew I would get the best opportunities for education as well.”
Warren wants to pursue a master’s degree at ECU and is considering the Accelerated Master of Arts in Communication program, which allows undergraduate students to begin graduate work during their senior years. She also may add an extra year to her graduate work and get a master’s degree in elementary education.
While she hasn’t decided what her post-graduation plans will be, Warren is interested in teaching communication at a community college or working in public relations in the health care field.
Warren is keeping her summer plans fairly simple this year. After her mission trips to Belize and Chicago were canceled this summer due to COVID-19, she decided to spend as much time around Mooresville with her friends and family as she could before leaving for college in the fall.
However, Warren intends to continue her mission trips next summer.
“Next summer I may be going to Uganda, which I’m very excited about,” she said.
Warren is the daughter of Chris and Stacie Warren of Mooresville.
“Being an EC Scholar will allow me so many opportunities I never would have gotten at another university.”
High school: Mooresville Senior High School
Intended major: Communication
Hometown: Mooresville