THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, June 12, 1994 TAG: 9406100253
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 16 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY SUSIE STOUGHTON
DATELINE: 940612 LENGTH: SUFFOLK
Smith, 18, graduated on time and with honors from Lakeland High School this spring despite illness that kept her from school all last year.
{REST} And this fall she will study art at Virginia Commonwealth University after changing her plans at the last minute and scurrying to get accepted at the Richmond school and its art department.
Until a month ago, she was headed to Virginia Tech to become a veterinarian.
``I just decided that wasn't what I wanted to do,'' Smith said. ``So we've changed everything around.''
She packed up some of her drawings and other art work and drove to VCU to persuade school officials to give her a chance.
``I have to do what my heart says,'' she said. ``I tend to rely on my gut feelings. My brain doesn't rule me, my heart does.''
In August 1992, Smith was diagnosed with leukemia and spent her junior year shuffling back and forth between her home near Whaleyville and the Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters in Norfolk.
She was too weak to attend classes, but with the help of a homebound instructor she completed two courses, English and history, so she could be classified a senior this year. She made A's in both courses.
A bubbly, friendly teen, Smith kept in touch with her friends, occasionally inviting them to spend the night or going out with them when she felt well enough.
Now the leukemia is in remission, and she no longer takes any treatments.
``I made it through by the grace of God,'' she said.
Smith returned to school for her senior year and had enough credits to graduate on time because she took extra classes throughout her school career, with the exception of the year she was out sick.
This fall, Smith said, she will miss her friends and the high school activities - field hockey, a school play and various clubs.
But she's ready to move ahead with the next phase of her education.
Her parents, Tony and Sybil Smith, were supportive of her change in career goals and school plans, she said.
Smith has received recognition for her art since elementary school, and her art teacher at Lakeland helped develop her talent, she said.
After a year in the basic art program, Smith will decide what type of art to pursue. She may want to be an art teacher, she said.
She likes all types of art - drawing, working with clay, making collages. She especially enjoys painting with watercolors.
``I use bold colors and paint big things,'' she said. ``I'm somewhat of an expressionist.''
Van Gogh, her favorite artist, was also an expressionist, she said.
But she will likely be more modern.
``Maybe I'll be the next Andy Warhol,'' she said.
{KEYWORDS} CLASS OF 1994 GRADUATION
by CNB