Sylacauga native Shay Graham is getting an early start on funding her higher education.After participating in The First Tee program at FarmLinks for the past several years, Graham is now a semifinalist for the RBS Achievers of the Year Awards. The program was created by The Royal Bank of Scotland Group in association with Charter One and Citizens Bank to recognize participants of The First Tee.
Two winners, one male and one female, will be named at the annual awards dinner on Aug. 7 in Detroit. Those winners will each receive $10,000 in scholarships while the remaining eight semifinalists will each receive $1,500 in scholarships.
Graham, who will be a junior at B.B. Comer High School this fall, is the only golfer from Alabama to be named a semifinalist for the award.
“I was really happy because I think I tried out for it last year and didn’t get it, so I was happy to get it this year,” she said Tuesday.
Graham was the low scorer of the golf team at Comer throughout the season and has participated in The First Tee program since she was in sixth grade.
“The First Tee program, mostly it teaches us life skills and then golf skills,” Graham said. “The life skills help us everyday. Mostly we go to the golf course on Wednesdays to practice.”
Before the awards ceremony in August, Graham will take a trip to Manhattan, Kan. for The First Tee Life Skills and Leadership Academy. She said the academy, which will take place July 8-15 at Colbert Hills Golf Course and Kansas State University, would end with a golf tournament.
“The first couple of days we’ll have a life skills camp,” Graham said. “We’ll work on golf skills and life skills. At the end I think we’ll have some sort of tournament.
“It’ll be a great opportunity to meet new people that like the same things we like.”
Meeting new people is one of the things Graham likes best about golf.
“I enjoy being able to see the progress that I make everyday,” she said. “I enjoy meeting new people on the golf course.”
While she still has two years of high school remaining, Graham has already decided what she wants to do after school.
“I want to go to UAB or the University of Alabama (and major in) sports medicine,” Graham said.
The RBS Achievers of the Year Awards recognize outstanding participants for succeeding in school and their daily lives as a result of their experience with the First Tee.
The First Tee’s mission is to impact the lives of young people by providing learning facilities and educational programs that promote character development and life-enhancing values through the game of golf. Since its inception in 1997, the First Tee has introduced the game of golf and its values to more than 2.2 million participants and students in 48 states and four international locations.
Graham got involved in The First Tee by participating in the BRIDGES program, which is sponsored by Sylacauga Alliance for Family Enhancement.
