Hinds CC nursing student awarded annual McCulloch scholarship

JANS – Mariah McGill’s journey at Hinds Community College began as a band student at the Raymond Campus, where she was the lead drum major in fall 2024.

Now she is continuing her journey in the Associate Degree Nursing program at Hinds’ Rankin Campus and as the winner of the 2026 annual Carla McCulloch Scholarship that will pay her tuition for the 2026-2027 academic year.

“I come from a single-parent household. My mother’s a single parent. Going to nursing school, in general, is a financial strain for my family. I think it is for a lot of people who choose to go,” said McGill, 21, a Pelahatchie resident. “This scholarship will take a lot of the burden off my mother because I can’t be financially independent like I usually am. I can’t work as often. So she’s kind of helping me on the financial side of things and this helps lift that burden off her shoulders too.”

The Carla McCulloch Scholarship has been given to a second semester Associate Degree Nursing student since 1991. It was created by Carla’s parents, Larry and Carol McCulloch. The McCullochs formerly lived in Magee but moved to Virginia a number of years ago. Larry McCulloch recently passed away.

Their daughter Carla graduated from Simpson Academy and was a Hinds nursing student at the time of her death in an April 1991 accident. The family requests that a student receiving the scholarship exhibit the same kind of passion for caring for people and bubbly, fun-loving personality as Carla.

“I definitely resonate with that 100 percent, fun-loving, outgoing, all of those things,” McGill said.

She believes her time in the band and as the lead drum major was excellent training for her current program of study.

“You get so many life skills with band – communication skills, problem-solving skills, time management skills, things of that nature. All of those skills can be applied to nursing school, especially time management. Everything is on a schedule; everything has deadlines,” McGill said. “I feel like those having those skills early set me up for success when it came to nursing school.”

McGill’s next step after Hinds nursing school is to work in a hospital with an ADN (Associate Degree Nursing) to BSN (Bachelor of Science in Nursing) program “that will allow me to continue working while I’m getting my education to get my bachelor’s.”

Ultimately, she wants to become a Nurse Practitioner or Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist.

To learn more about the nursing program available at Hinds, visit the website at hindscc.edu/pathways/health-sciences/associate-degree-nursing.