Most Outstanding Student Award

Within my program major at school, my professors selected me for their most outstanding student award. The AHIMA (American Health Information Management Association) allows each state association (AAHIM: Alabama Association of Health Information Management) to select 1 or 2 students from their program. There are only 4 programs in the state of Alabama. Two are associate-type degrees, and two are Bachelor degrees (like mine). I was so thrilled and honored to be selected! The AAHIM had their yearly state meeting in Orange Beach this past Wed-Saturday. I, along with my parents, was invited to attend an awards luncheon on Thursday. So my parents and I drove down Wednesday night, then drove to the condo where the meetings were being held. It was a very nice luncheon. The awards were presented...and I got a very nice plaque...and the best part...$500 scholarship! I was so excited. I would not have made it through this program without the help and understanding of my professors. They were awesome and worked with me whenever I needed it.

On a side note...as my program director and parents were talking..they realized that they new each other. My program director lived next door to my Mom's sister. (My Mom's sister is no longer living there..but my professor does). Her and my aunt were really good friends, and my program director remembers me as a little kid..playing around my Aunt's house. And my parents remembered her very very well. So they had a nice chat...and we were all laughing. Small world. I had never used my program director's first name around my parents, so that's why it never clicked!

Anyway..here are some pictures from the day. Also, the one of my parents and me is a restaurant that we went to Wednesday night after arriving in Gulf Shores. The picture of me is a little blurry..sorry. Oh well...bummer. My mom was taking it! I'm going to see if I can get a copy of the picture that someone else was taking.

Me and my HIM program director!

Me and my parents at Sea-N-Suds Seafood Restaurant!

We stayed at the Best Western hotel Wednesday night (we were trying to go cheap...since it was just 1 night). Anyway...I thought their sign was cute. I think they are owned by Christian people because of this sign and there were multiple indications inside the hotel. But I thought this was funny...because it sounds like that serving dippin dots was the prayer...and it really worked :)