Lauren Hudson’s list of post-high school accomplishments recently gained a notable addition.

Last month, the 2002 Spring Garden High School and 2004 Bevill State-Fayette graduate was named to the 2003-04 Academic All-American team.

The daughter of Ken and Marilyn Hudson, Lauren graduated Cum Laude from Bevill in May.

Her associate degree, however, is merely a stepping stone for Lauren’s career plans.

Last spring, Lauren accepted an academic scholarship to Huntingdon College in Montgomery, where she plans to continue her Pre-Dental studies and join the Lady Hawks’ volleyball roster.

“It mostly was a lot of hard work [to make the Aca-demic All-American team],” said Lauren. “You just have to be determined, and it wasn’t an option for me not to put school work ahead of volleyball and everything else.

“Being a Pre-Dental major was as tough as I expected, but it’s always been my goal to be a dentist since I can remember.”

Lauren certainly made the most of her 24 months at Fayette. Her academic achievements include Vice President of Leadership of Phi Theta Kappa, an All-Ameri-can Scholar Award, a Phi Theta Kappa Inductee Award, a Phi Theta Kappa Leadership Award, Student Government Association membership and a member of the Who’s Who Among Students in American Community Colleges publication.

Lauren’s athletic accomplishments are no less im-pressive. A setter for the Lady Bears’ volleyball squad, she helped Bevill reach the 2003 Alabama Community College Confer-ence Division II championship match.

Following the season, she received the Roy Martin Award as the top female athlete at Bevill State-Fayette, the Bevill State Coaches Award and the Volleyball Academic Award.

As a member of the 2001 Lady Panther volleyball team, Lauren was a Class 1A Honorable Mention All-State selection, as well as a member of the 2001 All-Region, All-Area and All-Coun-ty squads.

She was also a starting forward on Spring Garden’s 2001-02 state runner-up basketball team.

According to Lauren, the two people other than her parents who most influenced her goal of eventually hanging a DDS sign on her office door are retired Piedmont dentist Danny Wilson and Spring Garden volleyball and basketball head coach Ricky Austin.

“I worked with Dr. Danny in the 7th and 8th grade, and he’s my professional role model. Coach Rat taught me to work hard and not let anything stand in the way of my goals.

“I was very proud of the girls this year [for winning the Class 1A basketball championship]. I knew how hard they worked, because I’ve been there. Everybody on previous teams worked very hard to get that program to where it is today. It’s been a process that’s been building up to a championship since Coach Rat took over the program.”

Austin is not in the least surprised at his former student’s achievement.

“This just speaks to what kind of person Lauren is and what kind of values she has and the goals she has set for herself. I’m very proud for her, and it’s great to see that hard work is still rewarded.

“Her accomplishment also reflects well on Spring Garden, and I never doubted Lauren’s ability to represent this community well. I really believe that this achievement is only the beginning of great things to come for Lauren.”

This summer, Lauren is working with Dr. Ted Jones, a Gadsden oral surgeon.

“It’s a great job for me right now. I basically just do whatever they want me do, such as sterilize the instruments. I’m also learning about the different procedures, and it’s nice to get hands-on experience.

“Volleyball practice begins August 19th, so I’ll be leaving for Montgomery before long. Coach [Terina] Gantt said that we should be in the running this year, so I’m looking forward to the season.”

The 2003 Lady Hawks posted an 18-14 record in the NCAA Division III Great South Athletic Conference. The GSAC also includes Fisk University, LaGrange College, Maryville College, Piedmont College, Agnes Scott College, Wesleyan College and Spellman College