Last summer, recent Caledonia High School senior Megan Swails was sitting in a cardiologist’s office, trying not to cry as she heard him tell her she would have to have open heart surgery for the second time in her young life.
But this year, with her surgery behind her, she’s looking forward to attending Itawamba Community College, where she will study to become an echocardiogram technician.
When Caledonia car salesman Allen Jones, of Allen Jones Used Cars, learned about Swails, he was moved by her determination to overcome her health problems and pursue her dreams. Every year, he holds an essay contest for Caledonia seniors, and he gives the winner of the contest a used car.
He said when he read her essay, he knew she was the type of student he wanted to be his fifth winner.
Swails was born with a bicuspid aortal valve, a congenital heart defect. She had open heart surgery when she was two weeks old, but last summer, her aortic valve had to be replaced. She was a member of the dance team in high school, and she wondered if she would be able to dance again.
“I went from waiting eagerly to begin my senior year to facing a life or death situation,” Swails wrote in her essay.
After the surgery, she was determined to return to high school to graduate with her peers. When she learned she had received a dance scholarship to ICC, she was overjoyed, but she didn’t have a car, and she wondered how she would be able to get back and forth to college.
Jones said he was impressed by Swails’ drive to overcome her health obstacles, and that, combined with her essay and her record of academic achievement, made her an obvious choice.
“She’s got a lot of drive about her,” Jones said. “She didn’t sit around and feel sorry for herself. She wants to better herself, and that’s what we’re looking for.”
Friday, he handed her the keys to a charcoal gray 2006 Toyota Camry.
To be eligible for the car giveaway, students must be without a car, they must live in a low-income household and they must write a 750-word essay.
To keep the car, students must remain enrolled in college full-time, and they must maintain at least a 2.0 grade-point average. When they graduate from college, they receive the title to their car.
Danielle Stewart, Jones’ first recipient, recently came to pick up the title to her Mazda MX-6. She just graduated from Mississippi University for Women with a bachelor’s degree in culinary arts. She is now working as a pastry chef at Perdido Beach Resort in Orange Beach.
Stewart said having the car helped her tremendously, particularly by allowing her to take the Gulf Coast internship which eventually led to her full-time employment.
“I really want to thank Mr. Allen Jones and his wife and the entire team at Jones Auto, because this car has provided me with numerous opportunities to work to support myself,” Stewart said. “They always check on me and encourage me in everything I do.”
Carmen K. Sisson is the former news editor at The Dispatch.
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