Collinsville student selected as Guistwhite Scholar
By By Steve Gillespie / staff writer
March 21, 2002
Morgan McPhail of Collinsville received an honor only 10 other students worldwide have obtained: she was awarded the Guistwhite Scholarship through the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society.
Guistwhite Scholars receive $5,000 scholarships for a senior college of their choice. The Guistwhite Scholars Program is made possible by Dr. and Mrs. Jack Guistwhite of Boca Raton, Fla.
McPhail, 19, an East Mississippi Community College sophomore and the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Mark McPhail of Collinsville, was chosen for the scholarship from more than 800 applicants.
She will be recognized April 5 at the 84th International Phi Theta Kappa Conference in Nashville.
McPhail said she was honored, surprised and shocked when she learned a couple of weeks ago that she won the scholarship. Her economics teacher, Lucy Hull, a PTK sponsor at EMCC, phoned with the news.
As a nominee for the honor, McPhail had to submit an essay. Her subject was the importance of literacy for children. Through PTK, McPhail has spent volunteer hours reading to elementary school children.
A political science major, McPhail plans to attend Mississippi State University in the fall. She wants to earn a degree in education and go to law school.
McPhail said she has been interested in law since she was a child. She said serving as a page in the state Senate during her junior year in high school whetted her appetite for politics. McPhail praised PTK, saying the honor society helps its members put forth the extra effort to be their best academically. She said it "gives us the opportunity to be with others who put forth that extra effort."
McPhail is active in many areas.
She serves as president of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and the Student Government Association at EMCC. She is a Student Christian Fellowship member, a HEADWAE recipient and on the president's list and the National Dean's List.
That's not all. McPhail also is an Academic All-American Scholar and a varsity softball player. She serves as vice-president of EMCC's PTK Eta Upsilon chapter and was nominated for the Guistwhite scholarship by EMCC's PTK sponsors Lucy Hull and Janet Briggs.
Hull said McPhail was nominated for the honor because she is an outstanding student who represents the college well in every area academics, athletics and community service.
EMCC President Thomas L. Davis said that having McPhail receive such a prestigious award is evidence of the community college's emphasis on academic excellence.
