Morgan Alana Alford
Southeast Bulloch High School
Class of 2014
Parents: Rob & Wanda Alford

        Busy student Morgan Alford had no idea she would be chosen Exchange Club Youth of the Year. She remembers her Guidance Counselor Katherine Wellman asking her if she could give a speech in front of a crowd. "She said I would have to do it in front of the club at a regular meeting," Morgan said. Along with the other Exchange Club students, Morgan wrote an essay on "Creating the Spirit of Community Service with Passion and Commitment."
        "Mrs. Wellman and Mrs. Donna Clifton helped me with my speech. "I was so surprised to be recognized! The other students of the month did more than me. It was such a blessing to get a scholarship. School can be a burden on finances." Morgan credits her parents with always being encouraging and supportive.
        During her senior year, Morgan has also taken a class at Georgia Southern each semester. Her favorite subject is math. "I'm the strongest in math and I like it the most," she said, "I like problem solving and getting a solution that I know is right."
        Morgan also has a creative side. She has danced with the Southern Dance Academy for 15 years, as long as she can remember - jazz, hip hop, tap, lyrical - and once performed in an Atlanta Hawks half time show. "In dancing everything comes together in the end," she said. "Pieces of choreography here and there come together with practice and music as a beautiful routine." She is also very good at drawing and even created the design for her class' t-shirts at school.
        In the community, Morgan has volunteered for the Statesboro Food Bank, Keep Bulloch Beautiful, and The Backus Children's Hospital, among others. She was in FFA her first three years of high school and attended state competitions with projects in livestock judging and landscape design. During her senior year, Morgan participated in a work-based learning program and worked for the Hall Law Firm while attending high school and college classes.
        Morgan will attend the University of Georgia this fall with plans to get a degree in Applied Civil Engineering. "I wanted to be a Vet," she said, "but after shadowing a veterinarian, I decided it really wasn't for me." She's more interested now in city development, planning communities and watching them grow. "I just love it when things work out," she said.
Morgan added, "There's nothing like growing up in a small town. More than just your parents raise you. The whole community does."