Scott envisions leadership beyond Lake City High student government

LAKE CITY — It’s common to see Tiara Scott walking the halls of Lake City High School and greeting her fellow students as she makes her way to classes.

“Smile, Antwan,” Scott said to one of her peers she passed Jan. 26 in a school hallway.

“I speak to everyone, no matter what,” Scott said. “It’s my job to get to know everyone.”

Scott, a Lake City High School senior, is the student body president and performs well academically.

Scott said she has always enjoyed student government and that in the future she may want to be a politician. She wouldn’t be surprised if she decided to run for U.S. president, she said.

Some of Scott’s duties as student body president include encouraging students to follow school rules, helping plan student activities, and relating suggestions from the student body to school administrators and the Florence School District 3 board of trustees, she said.

“I was surprised that I won,” Scott said of the school elections, although she added that she campaigned hard and felt like she had the support of the student body.

Scott ran for president of her freshman and sophomore classes, but lost both elections, she said. During her junior year, she didn’t run for a student government office and gave up on the idea of being a class president, she said. During her senior year, however, she was encouraged by others to run for student body president, she said.

“Elections in high school tend to be a popularity contest,” Scott said, explaining why she didn’t win the elections during her freshman and sophomore years.

When she ran for student body president, Scott said she and her peers “stuck” to the issues at hand. She said many students asked her questions such as, “What do you plan to do if you’re elected?”

“Being outgoing and charismatic helped my campaign,” Scott said.

She thinks shyness was a factor that kept her from winning student government elections in previous years, she said.

Scott, however, is not a stranger to being a student leader. She was student body president at Ronald E. McNair Middle School.

“Everything I’ve been a part of has helped me grow as an individual,” Scott said.

For the remainder of the school year, Scott will focus on bringing back the traditional May court activity, painting paw prints on sidewalks, remodeling the student picnic area, and getting more students involved in school activities and issues, she said.

The fear of being teased is why some students don’t get involved in school activities, she said.

“Lake City High School is actually a good school,” Scott said.

She thinks she is in an environment that is conducive to learning and has teachers that “push” her to reach her full potential, she said.

Lake City High School Principal Kasey Miles Feagin said Scott is in the top 5 percent of the senior class. Scott serves as student representative on a several committees and serves on the school’s improvement council, Feagin said, adding that Scott is willing to assist with anything teachers and school administrators ask her to do.

“She is a very concerned young lady,” Feagin said.

Scott said biology is her favorite subject and that she has always had a “knack” for science. She also does well in English and has had thoughts of teaching the subject, but decided she doesn’t have enough patience to become a teacher, she said.

She serves as editor of the Lacihian, which is the high school’s yearbook, and is a member of the prom committee; National Beta Club; National Honor Society; and Delta Gems, which is sponsored by a local chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. She also is a dual enrollment student at Florence-Darlington Technical College.

Additionally, Scott said, she is a member of the Lake City High School Ensemble and is a varsity cheerleader.

She loves singing and has always had a passion for music, she said. Since seventh grade, she has been involved in dancing and has attended many football and basketball games and fallen in love with cheerleading.

Scott has not decided on a college just yet, but has narrowed her search to Clemson University or the University of South Carolina. Whether she attends Clemson or USC, she will major in computer software engineering, she said. She has always enjoyed working with computers and would like to design and implement her own computer program, she said.

She considered majoring in political science, but wants a career that she will continue to enjoy, even after 10 years or more, she said. More than likely, however, political science will be her minor in college, she said.

“If you believe it, then more than likely you can do it,” Scott said. “Anything is possible if you put your mind to it.”

Scott said many students with whom she attended elementary school will not graduate in May. Students sometimes get discouraged and give up, she said.
“They don’t have motivation,” Scott said.

Students, however, need to always be concerned about the consequences of their actions, she said. She has always been surrounded by people who motivated her to achieve her goals, she said.

During her freshman year, academic enrichment teacher Jeremy Gerken helped her transition from middle school to high school, she said.

Scott said Kendra Wilson, a guidance counselor and the varsity cheerleading coach at Lake City High School, has opened many doors for her.

“I trust and depend on her,” Scott said.

Jessica L. Spurrell, Scott’s former English IV Honors teacher, said she thinks that in five years, Scott will still be in college, “studying and plugging” away and working on a master’s or an even higher degree. Spurrell said she thinks Scott will change her mind a couple of times about her career plans, but will continue attending college until she fully decides what she wants to do.

Scott’s strength is her ability to set a goal and work hard to achieve it, Spurrell said.

Scott is now a student in Spurrell’s Teacher Cadet class.

Business education teacher Tonia Wilson said Scott is a natural born leader. Wilson compared Scott to former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, explaining that Scott is not afraid to stand up for what she believes.

“She is not afraid to take risks,” Wilson said.

In her spare time, Scott enjoys reading and writing, and she challenges herself by reading complex books such as realistic fiction, she said. She also writes dramas and designs Web pages, which she began by studying and remembering HTML code, she said.