Samantha Leigh Walker, a junior at Polk County High School, has been selected as the winner of the People to People “Change My World Forever” essay contest. The People to People Ambassador Program was created by Dwight Eisenhower to promote peace through understanding worldwide.

Walker was nominated for the People to People program last year and found that she had been accepted in February of this year. She will travel to Europe for three weeks in June, representing the United States.
Qualifying students were asked to submit an essay desscribing an experience that changed their lives. Walker wrote about her adventures volunteering on Saturdays at The Hospice Thrift Barn in Landrum.
On May 1, she received the news that she had won the essay contest and $2,000 toward the cost of her trip.
Walker is an honor students at PCHS and works part-time at IGA in Tryon. She is the daughter of Carol and Terry Walker and the granddaughter of John and Louise Murdock and Elsie Walker.
– article submitted
by Stephanie Murdock