Christina Hogg has been caring for children since she was a child herself, so she knew that whatever she chose to do with her life, child care must be a part of it.

“I always knew I wanted to work with kids, and I am also good at science – I took anatomy and physiology in high school – and I said I’d try nursing and see if I like it. And I love it!” she says.

With a mother, aunt and cousin who have all worked in the nursing field, Hogg has a strong support system for advice and encouragement. Her parents and little sister, a high school sophomore interested in pre-med, live in nearby Lawrenceville, Georgia, where Hogg returns each weekend to the local church to volunteer for the preschool children’s ministry and play piano in the church band.

Her father works as an audiovisual salesman, while her stay-at-home mom offers part-time child care at the church. Hogg said she has developed a close relationship with her mother, who homeschooled her and her sister from elementary through high school at Scholars Guild Academy, an accredited weekly homeschool program in Loganville, Georgia.

Hogg says she knows the importance of earning a good college education and was already thinking of Brenau even before pinning down her major.

“I came here for a couple of tours and fell in love with the campus,” she says. “Brenau has a great nursing program and a beautiful campus. Then I got in with the Brenau Scholars program, and that’s when I knew I had to go here.”

Hogg especially enjoys her psychology classes, and looks forward to her prerequisite courses for nursing, including the more hands-on activities to learn how things work in a realistic hospital setting. She’s already eager to start doing rounds in local hospitals, including at the
Northeast Georgia Medical Center, where she hopes to work with child patients.

She can now be found working at the information desk in Brenau Trustee Library, where she proudly attends to her own assigned shelves of books. Hogg wants to expand on her position by working in the Writing Center someday, but for now considers her current post “the best job I’ve ever had.” Rightfully so since she is a major booklover and regular reader of fantasy and fiction such as her favorite book, The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.

While she knows her academic work and campus job will give her plenty of challenges, Hogg still plans to make time to volunteer and hopes to contribute her time to the Interactive Neighborhood for Kids (INK) children’s museum in Gainesville, because that’s where she often spent time as a child.

“Being a Brenau Scholar means I get to go to my dream school, and it gives me a chance to get plugged into the honors program and to meet others who value education the way I do. My mother raised me and my sister to put a huge value on education,” says Hogg, adding that she is especially thankful to everyone at Brenau for their support.

Hogg’s goal after graduation is to own a private medical practice, while also following in her mother’s footsteps by becoming a mother herself.