Elijah Conley

Elijah is a senior and graduating in the spring from Purdue Fort Wayne. A design fanatic, he will be pursuing interior design upon graduation, thanks to inspiration from Chip and Joanna Gaines with HGTV’s hit show Fixer Upper. He loves their authenticity and has seen how far they have come with their business, encouraging him to follow in their footsteps.

Elijah was born and raised here in Fort Wayne. He was a part of a campus ministry group all four years and found a sense of community. He even participated in an internship over the summer as a prime remodeler. Elijah has a sense of direction when it comes to his future in the interior design industry. “I am learning top to bottom. I want to start with mini renovations with rooms and their functionality, then I would eventually like to flip houses.” Upon graduation, he hopes to start with a smaller company before potentially owning his own business someday.

Elijah’s greatest benefit from the Persistence Pays Off program would be learning persistence and what that entails. Through the program, he has been able to learn how to budget money after getting used to balancing college and a job. He has also taken advantage of the resources provided to him for getting help with classes. Time management alongside a busy schedule has helped him significantly in all aspects of his life. Elijah said that one of the ways the PPO program has helped him stay on track to graduate was by touching base on a consistent basis with his advisor in terms of how he was doing. “It helped me to make sure I wasn’t going to airplane mode – it was making sure continuous work was being done.” Elijah believes that the PPO program is a great asset for each generation as they come into college, because “it’s clearly working!”