Published: October 08, 2009 10:56 pm      

Scholarship helps DSC senior go the distance

All Hannah Hudson really remembers about her father is a little tune he whistled.

It was as if he were calling out the names of her and her brother — “Haaa-naaaaah! Huun-teeeer!” The tune roused the children out of bed when they were small.

Hudson, 21, who is in her senior year studying history education at Dalton State College, was one of 37 students who recently received a Vantagepoint Memorial Scholarship given to children of firefighters and police officers killed in the line of duty. The Vantagepoint Public Employee Memorial Scholarship Fund is a public charity in Washington, D.C., established in 2001.

Hudson’s father, William Ricky Hudson, died at 31. She was two. A deputy with the Ben Hill County Sheriff’s Office, he was chasing a murder suspect when the patrol car he was driving crashed into a delivery truck that failed to yield at one of the only two traffic lights in the South Georgia town of Fitzgerald, family members said.

Hudson’s mother, Jacqueline Hudson, said her daughter would likely be over her head in loans if not for the scholarship and several others she received through an intense application process — more than 40 applications sent out Hannah’s junior year.

“The only way that she could possibly have done it was if she had taken out loans,” Jacqueline said. “I don’t think I could have paid for her college career by myself.”

The Dalton State student said she comes from a long line of strong, powerful women. Her great-grandmother opened a restaurant in the 1930s when female business ownership was rare. Her grandmother was paralyzed at age 15 but carried the Paralympic torch in 1996 at Stone Mountain. Her mother was 25 when her husband died. She never remarried, but she also didn’t give up, Hannah said.

The family continued to live in Fitzgerald for several years, and Hannah said her mother kept her and her brother involved in extracurricular activities so they wouldn’t be lacking in opportunities. When her grandmother died, the family moved in 2000 to be closer to other relatives. They chose Dalton, and Hudson began seventh grade. Her mother was hired at Park Creek School where she is a third-grade teacher.

Hannah knew no one in her new town, and she hated school after the move. If not for a teacher who encouraged her to become involved in the drama club, she would have continued hating it, she said. Hannah said she wants to teach middle school history after graduation. Middle school is a crucial age for students because they are undergoing so many physical and mental changes, she said.

“I think middle school kids would be easier to mold into loving something,” she said.

What Hannah loves is history. It started in fourth grade when she was introduced to Lois Lowry’s “Number the Stars,” a children’s book about the Holocaust. Then it ballooned into a reading extravaganza as she digested more than 200 volumes about World War II.

High school was a flurry of internships, volunteer opportunities and learning experiences that helped her snag scholarships after graduation. She interned with Superior Court Judge William Boyett, volunteered with local summer school programs and participated in a summer-long workshop studying theater. Each new opportunity was an experience she doesn’t regret, she says, but the experiences did more to help her discover the kinds of careers she did not want rather than what she actually wanted to do with her life.

A turning point came during the summer before her senior year in high school when she became involved working with a school program designed for children of migrant families. One of the kindergarten students there began crying over something he didn’t understand, and Hudson went to his aid.

“I took him in my lap, and I just held him,” she said. “That was the moment when I knew that I wanted to be a teacher.”

Hannah plans to pursue a master’s degree in middle school science and other teaching certifications after graduation.

Jacqueline said Ricky was “such a good, good husband and father” whose ultimate dream was to be a Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent. He was told he’d been hired the day he died, she said. While Hannah wants to follow a teaching career, her brother, Hunter is a jailer in Fitzgerald and plans to become a law enforcement officer after he turns 21, his family said.

Hannah praises her mother for her leadership and Jacqueline said they’ve since been able to share scholarship search advice with other area students.

“The opportunities for students are out there, and often students don’t do it,” Jacqueline said. “So far, I have not had to pay any money toward her education ... She has worked very hard, and I am so proud of her.”



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About the Vantagepoint Memorial Scholarship

Scholarship applicants are eligible for selection if they are the child or spouse of a local or state government employee who has died in the line of duty and are planning to study full-time at an accredited two- or four-year college, university or vocational-technical school. Applicants are also selected based on a number of factors including academic record, demonstrated leadership in school and community activities, honors, work experience and personal or family circumstances. Financial need is also considered.