Posting Date: April 1, 2011
KSU music student Jessica Hicks receives Regents' Scholarship
Hicks co-hosts Regents' Awards for Excellence scholarship event
By Megan Roberts
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Jessica Hicks Photo by Tracie Hinnant |
When Jessica Hicks got the call she had won the Regents’ President’s Choice Scholarship from the University System of Georgia, it seemed to come at the perfect time. Her father had just lost his job and the family was worried about the amount of loans they would have to take out in order to keep her in school. Hicks heard about the Regents' Scholarship and applied for it quickly, but when she found out she won, she was overcome. “My mom and I both cried,” she says.
On March 26, Hicks, a music education major, co-hosted the 2011 Regents' Awards for Excellence in Education at the Marriott Marquis in Atlanta. “At the beginning of the evening, I was apprehensive,” she explains. Hicks was seated at a table with the interim provost from Kennesaw State University as well as the head of human resources and the dean of the math and science department. The event honors outstanding faculty and alumni and raises funds for student scholarship programs.
When Hicks went on stage to speak, she did her best not to be nervous. It wasn’t until after she got off stage the first time that she found out who was in the audience. Governor Nathan Deal, Senator Johnny Isakson, and former President Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalynn Carter were all in attendance. As Hicks was called back on stage to hand out an award, she realized Rosalynn Carter was also on stage accepting an award. “I was on stage with her while she was giving her acceptance speech,” Hicks says. After the evening was over, KSU President Daniel Papp greeted Hicks, telling her how proud he was of her. “He said he couldn’t think of a better person to represent KSU,” Hicks says.
Hicks believes that the Regents' Scholarship is important because it is a need-based scholarship and helps with school as well as other expenses. The scholarship helped Hicks afford a new computer for school and also helped her go with the KSU Orchestra to China at the beginning of the Spring semester.
After Hicks graduates in May, she plans to get her master's degree in arts administration. She attributes her educational success to the Regents' Scholarship and is very proud to have received it. “Without the scholarship, I wouldn’t have gotten here.”