The pursuit of academic, athletic and service excellence propelled one Thomas County Central High School student to state recognition. Recently, senior Anna James earned school and state High School Heisman honors for her exemplary achievements both on and off the athletic field.
According to the official website, High School Heisman winners must have a weighted GPA of 3.0 or higher, exhibit leadership and positive influence in school and their community, and participate (or have participated) in at least one of 48 recognized sports during high school.
Currently, James holds a 4.6 GPA and participates in cross country and track and field.
James appreciates both wins. She did not anticipate the state recognition but is very happy with her accomplishment. She received a $750 state scholarship.
“I am glad I won the scholarship money because my parents have sacrificed so much for me, and I want to make college as stress-free as I can,” James said.
The application included submitting five each of her favorite academic and athletic achievements and writing four 1,000-character short essays.
“The first prompt was for me to describe where my hunger to succeed is from, which is that I love running, and I think it is amazing what my body can do,” James said. “The second prompt was a challenge I faced and how I overcame it. I wrote about how I have overcome years of having non-event specific training and still being able to succeed and run for a Division I school.”
The third prompt asked James about a proud moment of community service, and she chose volunteering as a disaster relief Spanish interpreter at her church during Hurricane Irma. Having taken Spanish for two years, James helped Hispanic individuals sheltering where she volunteered to register, understand important information and communicate with others.
“I felt super proud that by simply speaking Spanish, I could help people feel at ease while their primary focus was on keeping their families safe during the hurricane,” James wrote in her essay.
The fourth essay prompted James to discuss a valuable lesson about acceptance she’s learned.
“I wrote about a concept called radical acceptance that helped me overcome not having the perfect knowledge and resources that runners from large cities have and identify things that I can improve myself,” she said.
James will attend Kennesaw State University, where she plans to pursue a degree in biochemistry and be a member of its cross country and track teams.
“I simply realized that I cannot imagine my life without running and being part of a team,” she wrote in her application. “Running is a very beautiful sport.... To run is to live.”
The Heisman High School Scholarship is presented by Acceptance Insurance. The program was created in 1994 through a partnership between Wendy’s and The Heisman Trophy Trust. From its inception, the program has leveraged the reputation of the Heisman Memorial Trophy as a symbol of great ability combined with diligence, perseverance, and hard work.