![\"Lydia](\"https:\/\/gwu-today.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/IMG_5920_Lydia_Hill.jpg\")
<\/a>Photo by Anna Hulsey.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\u201cI wasn\u2019t sure if I should run,\u201d Hill recalled. \u201cBut once people told me \u2018you should do it, you should do it!\u2019 I got really excited.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ultimately, Hill chose to run because of the encouragement of others and it was something much different than she had ever done before.<\/p>\n
Hill is active in a variety of organizations around campus, including Focus, Campus Ministries United and Honors Student Association. \u201cI have a really well-rounded Gardner-Webb experience,\u201d she shared. \u201cI\u2019ve gotten to do so many things here that I never would have had the opportunity to do if I hadn\u2019t gone to a school like this.\u201d<\/p>\n
She loves Gardner-Webb because of how genuine everyone on campus is, especially faculty and staff. \u201cThey are really invested in us, and want to help us succeed,\u201d Hill explained.<\/p>\n
Once she graduates in May, Hill plans to get married and search for a job that utilizes the skills she has gained through her Marketing major.<\/p>\n
Katie Smith<\/strong> of Concord, NC is both thrilled and honored to be nominated for Homecoming Queen. She had hoped for the opportunity to run after a difficult time in her family.<\/p>\n \u201cIn August my grandmother passed, followed by my brother\u2019s friend as well as a lady that I cared for as a CNA,\u201d Smith recalled. \u201cThis is an opportunity for my family to focus on something happier for a little while.\u201d<\/p>\n Smith is confident that any of the candidates this year will be a good choice.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re all awesome,\u201d Smith explained. \u201cWhenever I tell people to vote, I don\u2019t mean just for me. Anyone that is running would be great.\u201d<\/p>\n However, Smith does feel that her Nursing major and career choice make her unique. \u201cThe work that I do and the interactions that I have on a daily basis are very different,\u201d she admitted. \u201cThey will be life and death situations.\u201d<\/p>\n Smith\u2019s favorite part about Gardner-Webb is the people that she gets to spend time with. \u201cI love the people who cook, the people who clean, the people that teach me things and the people I get to live with that have become my best friends,\u201d she shared.<\/p>\n After graduation, Smith plans to work for a few years to gain experience and attend UNC Chapel Hill to get her Doctor of Nursing Program (DNP), which will allow her to work under the supervision of a doctor.<\/p>\n \u201cWe can open a practice together,\u201d she added. \u201cIt can be a family practice so that I will be able to treat patients of all ages.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/a>
Photo by Anna Hulsey.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n