"Emily displayed creativity, vision, and aspiration," says Leland Harden, one of the judges who awarded the $18,750 scholarship to Albany High School senior Emily Raymond.

The "Lights, Camera, Free Ride" contest started three years ago as the brain child of HSU's marketing office, Enrollment Services, and the folks at KRBC TV.

A quick upbeat commercial, put together by Hardin-Simmons video guru and webmaster Erin Leeper, poses a musical question to the tune of the 1979 hit song 'My Sharona.' High school seniors answered the question with videos of their own entitled, "What I Would Do With My HSU Diploma".

For over a month, DVD's and videos submitted on You Tube have been piling up, so to speak, in the office of Marketing Director Amanda Etter. "This year we received more videos than ever, which really made the judging process much more difficult," says Etter.

"Each video was unique and creative as each student showed us what they would do with their diploma from HSU. These incoming students are already beginning to feel connected and a part of the creative environment that makes our university unique."

Vice President of Institutional Advancement, Leland Harden, says the concepts in the videos were so good that, when it came to choosing the winner, it just came down to simple packaging.

Both Harden and Etter delivered the news to Emily in a surprise visit to her biology class at Albany High School. Emily's parents were on hand for the announcement, both of them teachers at the high school.

Emily stated in the video that she wants to be a doctor that she would use her biology degree as a ministry. The video concludes with Emily referring to a group of photographs of HSU alumni who have become physicians. The photos line the second-floor hallway of the Holland Health Sciences building as a series of ads created by HSU called "Greatness."

Last year's winner, Raul Anthony Diaz of Coronado High School in Lubbock, plays football at HSU and has enrolled again for another year at Hardin-Simmons as a sophomore.

You can see the Lights, Camera, Free Ride video submitted by Emily by at this link...
http://www.hsutx.edu/lcfr/09winner/

You can see the Lights, Camera, Free Ride "My Diploma" commercial by going to this link...
http://www.hsutx.edu/video/mydiploma/

Etter says the contest to find a student who wants a free year of college will continue next year.