With Summer Lee coming from a literary family – her father and mother were writers, and her grandfather Jerry Shepherd was co-owner of Main Street Books in downtown Hattiesburg – it’s no surprise that she would excel in that subject as well.
But Lee, a freshman at Oak Grove High School, has far surpassed what one might call impressive – she recently was awarded two Gold Keys and a Silver Key from the Scholarships Art & Writing Awards and was invited represent Oak Grove at the National Student Leadership Conference in Chicago and to participate in the Envision and Stanford Law School Intensive Law & Trial program. After scoring a 1280 on the PSAT, Lee received invitations to tour Rice University, Brown University and Stanford University.
“I’ve written all my life, but when I was 8, my dad died, and I started writing to kind of explore my emotions and to be able to better communicate them,” Lee said. “One of the things I love most about writing is the fact that I can make somebody feel something that previously, they have never felt before. I can make them understand me on a deeper level.”
The Silver Key, which is given to standout works submitted to local programs that demonstrate exceptional ability and comes with a $250 scholarship to a writing workshop at Millsaps College, was awarded to Lee for her story Honeysuckle Heaven. The story recounts an imaginary encounter between her and Harper Lee, the famous author of To Kill a Mockingbird.
“It’s more blurring the lines for me,” Lee said. “The last book that Poppa (Shepherd) ever gave to me was To Kill a Mockingbird.
“I started reading it, and I read more about Harper Lee, and I saw a lot of similarities between herself and me. I felt this kind of connection, so I wrote about me interviewing her and telling her about my Poppa.”
The Gold Key, which is given to the best works submitted to local programs, was awarded for Lee’s A Common Anguish, a story about the connection between Lee and her father. The Gold Key also comes with a full scholarship to Millsaps College.
“(A Common Anguish) is about how similar I am to him, and kind of the fear that can come with that – the fear that I’m going to end up like he did and that I’m not going to make it,” Lee said.
Gold Key works are automatically considered for national-level recognition, with the winner receiving a $300,00 scholarship and their works distributed during a visit to New York City. In addition, Lee also was nominated for the Gold Key American Voices Award, which comes with the trip to New York City.
As a result of Lee’s accomplishments in the Scholarships Art & Writing Awards, she will attend a conference in April at the Eudora Welty House & Garden in Jackson, where award certificates will be distributed and winning works will be read out loud.
“I have the potential to win both (the Gold Key scholarship and the American Voices Award),” Lee said. “They’re both very prestigious awards – Stephen King won them when he was in high school, and you see where he is now.
“It’s honestly incredible. I first started applying for these awards in seventh grade, and the first time I applied, I didn’t make it to the national level, and I didn’t try last year. So to have this recognition and this confirmation is incredible, and I know it’s opening a lot of opportunities as well.”
The Envision and Stanford Law School Intensive Law & Trial program allows students to essentially job shadow professors from Stanford Law School to gain hands-on experience in the law field. Participants learn about the legal system by putting on trials and helping attorneys with their court cases. More information on that program can be found at https://envisionexperience.com.
Lee feels the program will be especially helpful to her, as she is considering becoming a public interest lawyer.
“I’m really excited to be able to experience what it’s like in an actual courtroom, especially because one of the scariest things about going into college is, what if I end up not liking what I’ve chosen?” Lee said. “But to have this before-hand experience is really helpful."
