The Georgia Hospital Association awarded Southeast Bulloch High School Senior Ansley Rushing its $1,000 Marjorie G. Hogan Memorial Health Occupation Student Association Scholarship during the Spring HOSA Leadership Conference held recently in Athens.
    “I am so proud of her,” said SEBHS Health Sciences Teacher and HOSA Advisor Sharon Pye.  “We’ve had three students apply for this scholarship in the past, but she is the first to win it.” 
    Pye received a state honor this year as well by being named the Georgia Health Care Science Educator of the Year by the Georgia Health Care Science Technology Educators Association.
    “The HOSA scholarship is one of three different ones that we provide,” said Denise Flook, Director of
Workforce Development for GHA.  “We also bestow a scholarship for hospital teen volunteers and nursing faculty.”
    Recipients are selected from statewide applicants that are a high school senior, a post-secondary student or a HOSA member who plans to attend a Georgia college to pursue a career in healthcare.
    “We had 23 applicants for Ashley’s particular scholarship, but our committee felt that she exemplified the total package of academic standing, passion for the healthcare field, leadership ability, and healthcare volunteer experience.  We believe she will be successful in her pursuit of a healthcare career in Georgia, and that’s the desire of our organization,” said Flook.
    “I was very shocked to be the only student in the state to receive this particular scholarship,” said Rushing.  “My hard work and effort have paid off.”
    Rushing plans to attend East Georgia College for two years and then transfer to Georgia Southern University and pursue a career as a nurse anesthetist.
    “As a nurse anesthetist I want to help people and see them receive the best care they deserve,” said Rushing. 
    She has sought ways to do that even in high school.  She works in the K-mart Pharmacy as part of SEBHS’s work-based learning program, and she has also served on the student committee that hosted a school talent show to raise funds for a fellow student suffering from cystic fibrosis.
    Rushing is an honor graduate with a 3.9 grade point average placing her in the top ten of her graduating class.  She is the daughter of Connie Rushing, an interpreter at Sallie Zetterower Elementary School and Mark Rushing both of Statesboro.