Editor’s note: This is the first in a series of four Bright Future articles highlighting local STAR students. STAR is an acronym for Student Teacher Achievement Recognition, a Mississippi title given to the student who excels academically in the classroom and earns the highest ACT score at his or her high school.

 NATCHEZ — Nursing isn’t the last thing Akia Johnson wants to do, it’s just the first of many goals the Natchez High School senior has atop her to-do list.

The Natchez native has spent the last four years soaking up as much knowledge possible on the school’s campus to prepare her for the next chapters of her life.

Those skills came in handy when Johnson sat down to take the ACT college preparatory test and ended up receiving a 26 — the highest score of any student at the school.

The ACT score earned Johnson the title of STAR student at Natchez High School.

The Student Teacher Achievement Recognition program honors one student per high school based on ACT score and academic achievement in the classroom. Johnson joins more than 280 students from around the state who have earned the title this year.

The award is sponsored by the Mississippi Economic Council.

“It was a big deal for me,” Johnson said. “I was good friends with the STAR student from last year and this whole year, he’s been telling me that I should get it.”

Johnson said she was in competition with four students at the high school who received the same ACT score, and school officials told her it ultimately came down to GPA to determine who received the title.

Being named the STAR student for her school was important to Johnson, she said, because it also meant scholarship funds to the University of Southern Mississippi, which she will be attending in the fall.

“I had already received an academic scholarship there, but this is an additional scholarship that’s going to help a lot,” Johnson said. “They haven’t told me how much I’ll get for either of them, but every bit helps.”

As STAR student, Johnson chose one teacher who had the greatest impact on her educational career as STAR teacher.

Johnson chose NHS teacher Creseda Crawford, who has been teaching for 27 years and has been named STAR teacher four times.

Crawford said Johnson is an excellent example of what a student who is willing to put forth the effort can accomplish.

“I’ve seen her grow from a freshman trying and wanting to be a leader into a full-fledged leader her senior year,” Crawford said. “She is always one who is striving for academic excellence and always wanting to learn new things and challenged.”

Johnson took Crawford’s advanced placement U.S. history class last year with the hopes of being exposed to more rigorous material.

But the NHS senior said history and government was not what she wanted to continue studying in college.

“When I was little, I would always take care of my great-great grandparents, and I liked being able to help them and feel like a doctor,” Johnson said. “I’ve always liked helping people, and I think I’m a people person.

“But nursing is not the last thing I want to do, it’s just the first thing I want to do.”

Johnson will begin studying nursing at USM in the fall with the hope of eventually becoming a physician after more school.

“That’s not what I want to do forever, though, because I want to be surgeon general one day,” Johnson said. “That’s like the doctor of America and that’s what I want to do.”

Johnson is a member of the National Honor Society, Beta Club and last year was the president of Health Occupations Students of America.

She is the daughter of Kijuan and Myosia Dukes.