During the summer, most teenagers slowly crawl out of bed around lunch time and watch Netflix until their eyes hurt, but Danny Benson ‘16 is up before dawn and on the fairways of LaGrange Country Club ready to get out, caddy and make some money.

“Waking up at 5:30 in the morning in the summer is definitely a grind,” Benson said. “But it has taught me a lot of new things.”

Benson’s four years of early mornings has not only paid off with the $2,000-$3,500 he makes every summer, but with the fact that he is one of the two caddies at LGCC to receive the Evans Scholarship.

“It is just an awesome thing for me because I get to go to college for free,” Benson said. “But it is more than that because it puts me on a better path for the future.”

Benson has gotten more out of caddying than just the monetary value, he said. In fact, he has learned things he might not have had he not joined caddying.

“There is a whole social aspect like being able to talk to adults without getting nervous,” Benson said. “[They] give little pointers about applying to colleges and what to go into in the future. [It’s] just some real world advice.”

Along with this advice from the older members, he has gained experience that has helped him discover what he wants to do in life.

“Caddying has helped [Benson] by giving him a chance to experiment and learn more about various successful occupations that the members at LGCC have,” fellow caddy,

Nick Wojcicki ’17 said. “[This] allowed him to create a specific goal for college, [his] education and his career.”

With these new experiences from various members and people, it has helped showcase his scholarship-winning abilities.

“[Danny] works very hard, he is enthusiastic, capable and well-rounded,” Danny’s mother, Sheila Benson, said. “He doesn’t take things on simply to build an impressive resume; he has a wide variety of interests and immerses himself in whatever he does.”

With this scholarship, Danny has committed to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and plans to study pre-law, he said. With the money he has saved, he hopes to go to law school for his graduate studies.

“The scholarship is helpful to Danny and our family in so many ways,” Sheila said. “It is a testament that hard work and dedication can pay off, and he will graduate from a respected university free of debt.”