Georgia Magazine - July 2017 - 15A

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Get to know the 2017 Walter
Harrison Scholarship recipients

Mary Ragan Bailey

Mary Ragan Bailey of Louisville was the top-ranked
student at Edmund Burke Academy and was the school's
only senior to receive early acceptance at the University
of Georgia.
She was "the epitome of 'scholar athlete,' as she excels at both," teacher Monika Mobley wrote in a letter
of recommendation. "Even as an outstanding athlete who
has put in many after-school hours for our athletic programs, she has managed to keep her position as top student throughout high school."
Bailey participated in basketball, softball and golf.
She earned All-Region Awards for varsity boys golf and
varsity girls softball and the State Low-Medalist award for
varsity boys golf.
On the "scholar" side, she achieved the A+ honor roll
every year of high school and the State of Georgia/University of Georgia Certificate of Merit and was inducted
into the National Society of High School Scholars and the
FLAIR (Foreign Language Alliance for International Rapport) Honors Society.
She also stayed busy with the Interact Club, Students
Against Destructive Decisions, the Fellowship of Christian
Students, Spanish Club, Beta Club, Future Georgia Educa-

tors and Student Council. Bailey participated in several
service projects as part of the Interact Club and tutored
other students in mathematics.
In addition to pursuing a medical career, perhaps in
anesthesiology, her goals include continuing a family tradition of farming.
"My dad is a third-generation farmer, and I am an
only child," she says. "When the time comes, I want to
be able to successfully manage the farm and keep it in
the family."

Kendyll Freeman

she served on the Student Council and
was vice president of her class. She
earned the State of Georgia/University
of Georgia Certificate of Merit and received the DWS Cannon Family Scholarship.
Freeman, who plans to help people
for a living in a medical field, participated in several mission trips, including one to a refugee camp in Clarkston,
Ga., and one to New Orleans.
In New Orleans, she had the opportunity to talk with "Steve," a veteran
with cancer who was contemplating
suicide.
"We talked and laughed, and he
told me stories of when he boxed and
showed me pictures from when he
was younger," she says. "I don't know
where Steve is now, but this experience
gave me the realization that even the
smallest conversation can have the potential to change someone's life."

Kendyll Freeman of Albany was in
the top 10 percent of her class at Deerfield-Windsor School, but she made an
impression far beyond academics.
"Kendyll Freeman is hard-working,
dependable and trustworthy," Jeff Tanner, a certified athletic trainer at the
school, wrote in recommending her for
the scholarship. As a student athletic
trainer, she "always arrived early ...
and could always be counted on when
help was needed."
Freeman ran track and played softball and soccer. She served as the captain of her school's soccer team during
her junior and senior years. Her love
for sports led her to coach a children's
soccer camp and play club soccer outside of school.
She also was very active in school
clubs, including Beta Club, Math Club,
Science Club and Spanish Club, and
15A

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Georgia Magazine - July 2017