NWCC Endowment Scholarship Established In Late Student's Name

More than 1,000 people attended the memorial services of Holli Pond Day in October 2013, a testament to the lives that this extraordinary young woman touched in her brief life.  
Day was 23 years old when she died. The impact of her life is still remembered. Because of that impact, friends and family have established The Holli Pond Day Endowed Scholarship at Northwest Mississippi Community College.
Day was a graduate of Southern Baptist Educational Center (SBEC) in Southaven. At SBEC, she was selected for the Lead Program for students chosen to serve in a leadership position. She was the chaplain of Big Sis Little Sis Club and the Barnabas Belles. A member of the yearbook staff, she was also vice president of Table Talk for a Closer Walk Club.  An active member of Longview Heights Baptist Church, she was a singer in the youth worship band and participated in mission trips to Wyoming, Toronto, Missouri, and Zimbabwe. She volunteered her time and talents as a special needs volunteer at her church and worked with the House of Grace and the Tornado Damage Recovery Group.
Day attended Mississippi State University for two years and then transferred to Northwest where she studied nursing. She received her associate degree in nursing in May 2012. Upon receiving her degree, she began working in labor and delivery at Baptist Memorial Hospital DeSoto.
According to her sister, Carrie Hardin of Hernando, also a graduate of the Northwest nursing program, working in labor and delivery was Day’s dream job. “Holli was one of the most compassionate people that you would ever meet, and helping moms bring their babies in the world was the perfect place for Holli,” Hardin said.
She married Tory Day, her longtime sweetheart, after graduation, and they were expecting their first child at the time of Holli’s death.
Holli’s mother, Patti Pond, remembers well the characteristics that endeared her daughter to so many. “Holli loved the Lord first and foremost, and she loved her family and friends.  She was sweet, compassionate and kind. She was especially close to her nieces and nephews, and she always took up a great deal of time with them.  Her loss has hit all of us especially hard,” Pond said.
Holli’s father died when she was 3-years-old. She leaves behind her husband, Tory; mother, Patti Pond; her sister, Carrie Hardin and husband, Daniel; her brother, Joseph; and her nieces and nephews, Kyler Hardin, Brody Hardin, Anna Grace Pond, and Addy Kate Pond.
The Holli Pond Day Endowed Scholarship will be awarded to students enrolled in the Associate Degree Nursing program. The first scholarship will be awarded for the 2014-15 academic year, according to Sybil Canon, associate vice president of Development and Special Projects.  “Special recognition will be given to Holli at the Foundation’s annual Scholarship Recognition Ceremony, scheduled for September 29 on the Senatobia campus of Northwest,” Canon said.
For more information, contact Canon at 662-560-1103 or e-mail srcanon@northwestms.edu.
Courtesy of Northwest Community College