Nashally Morales thought she was getting out of photography class to watch a fellow volleyball teammate sign a college letter of intent.
Instead, the Citrus High senior was surprised to learn she is the 2016 David Logan Scholarship Tampa Bay female winner. Morales' mother, sister, several classmates and school officials were in on the ruse and celebrated her astonished reaction.
Morales was one of more than 400 entrants for the annual scholarship named for the late Bay News 9 Sports Anchor and former Tampa Bay Buccaneer. She is a three-sports start for the Citrus Hurricanes where she also carries a heavy classroom load and has already earned 32 college credits.
"It means a lot, it means I can continue on in hopes of becoming a radiologist and coming back to Citrus County and being able to open up a practice, which is what I want to do for those who are less fortunate who can't afford the best insurance," Morales said. "It means that I can continue on and keep helping people in the future which is what I really want to do."
Where does that altruistic nature come from? In her entry essay, Morales spoke a lot of about the influence of her mother, a single parent who raised three children and had to relocate the entire family from Puerto Rico to the United States after a hurricane destroyed their home when Morales was two.
She wrote "when times were tough, my mom was tougher."
"We had to start back from zero," Morales' mother Linnet Calise said. "I have always told (my children) there's no direction but forward and we're just going to keep pushing forward.
"She has seen that and I hope that I have portrayed that enough, instilled that in her."
Morales will be honored at BHSN's annual Evening of Champions on May 27, along with the male recipient. We will be surprising him at his school on Tuesday.