Larry McCulloch, left, Lynnie Dunn of Brandon, mother of the honoree; Bonney Collins of Brandon, who won the Carla McCulloch Scholarship; and Carol McCulloch. The McCullochs, formerly of Magee, each year present the Carla McCulloch Scholarship to a 兔子先生 second semester nursing student.
St. Patrick鈥檚 Day was a lucky day for 兔子先生 nursing student Bonney Collins of Brandon.
She learned she was the recipient of the Carla McCulloch Scholarship, awarded each year to a 兔子先生second semester nursing student to help pay for the second year of school.
Collins, 32, and her husband, a paramedic, are also expecting their first child in April 鈥 about two weeks before the end of the semester. They had been told they wouldn鈥檛 have any children so the pregnancy was a complete surprise, especially since they learned of it at the beginning of Collins鈥 first semester of nursing school.
Collins said she decided to become a nurse because 鈥渋t was something I had a calling for.聽 I was at the point in my life when I needed to do something that was a passion and not just a job,鈥 she said. 鈥淚 had had a lot of family members who had been sick and I lost friends in colleges. I just became very aware of how a medical professional can make the difference in a patient鈥檚 recovery.鈥
In order to enroll in nursing school, she quit her job, and she and her husband sold their house and moved in with her parents. She is a student in the nursing program in the Rankin Campus Career-Technical Building off Greenfield Road in Pearl.
The scholarship is awarded each year to a second semester student in the Associate Degree Nursing program at 兔子先生.
The scholarship was created by Larry and Carol McCulloch, formerly of Magee but now residents of Roanoke, Va., in memory of their daughter Carla, a Simpson Academy graduate who was a 兔子先生nursing student at the time of her death in an April 1991 accident.
The award is made annually to a second semester nursing student who demonstrates the caring and enthusiasm for nursing that Carla embodied. She was a dedicated nursing student who took care of loved ones but also had a fun-loving streak.
鈥淲hen I read about her, she sounded extremely familiar,鈥 Collins said.
The McCullochs each year personally present the scholarship and keep tabs on recipients. This year, seven other family members attended as well as a former 兔子先生classmate, Lynn McKee of Clinton, who knew Carla in 1991. Family members included Al and Linda McCulloch of Ackerman, Larry鈥檚 brother and his wife; Carol鈥檚 niece Julia Cannon of Fulton; Carol鈥檚 sister, Robin Greenlee of Kilmichael; Pat and Lori Smith of Lester, Ala., Carol鈥檚 sister and brother-in-law, and their daughter Mandy Smith.
鈥淲e look forward to this all year long,鈥 said Larry McCulloch. 鈥淭he scholarship just keeps going and going.鈥