The Curtin Team is proud to announce that this year’s Hard-Working Hornet Scholarship — an award recognizing a graduating senior who exemplifies perseverance and a strong work ethic — was presented to not one, but two deserving recipients: Ava Smith and Lindsey Kasakowski, both seniors at Roswell High School.
Ava Smith: Relentless in Pursuit
Ava Smith’s path is defined by her refusal to accept “no” as a final answer. When a teacher suggested she reach out to Georgia Tech professors to explore research opportunities, Ava did exactly that—and kept going when the responses were silence or rejection. She ultimately sent emails to nearly a hundred researchers across the country before landing an interview with Dr. Mihriban Karaayvaz at the Cleveland Clinic, one of the world’s leading medical institutions.
What followed was a summer internship in the Clinic’s genomic medicine research lab, where Ava studied BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes linked to breast cancer. She arrived knowing little about lab work, but responded by filling notebooks with everything she learned, reviewing her notes at every meal and break until the material became second nature. By the end of the internship, she was independently conducting cell cultures and contributing experiments to an actual research paper — a first for any high school intern in that lab, and a milestone she earned entirely through grit and determination.
Beyond Cleveland Clinic, Ava co-founded and serves as Vice President of her school’s HOSA chapter, earned her HIPAA certification through an internship at SmartMED, and has shadowed both a radiation oncologist and a genetic testing specialist. She plans to continue expanding her experience this summer with a prenatal genetic counseling shadowing opportunity at UNC Chapel Hill.
Lindsey Kasakowski: Dependable, Every Single Day
Lindsey Kasakowski represents a different but equally powerful expression of hard work — the kind that shows up quietly, consistently, and without fanfare. Over the course of high school, Lindsey has held four jobs while maintaining her studies full-time, developing the time management, discipline, and organizational skills that come only from truly doing the hard thing, day after day.
One standout experience is her role as an afternoon caregiver at Young Life Academy (where the Curtin’s children, like so many Roswell families, attended!), where she was responsible for helping manage a classroom of 34 prekindergarten children — often while compensating for a coworker whose effort fell short. Rather than quit, Lindsey chose to step up, maintaining her composure and keeping the children’s well-being at the center of everything. It’s the kind of character that can’t be taught in a classroom.
Lindsey has also served as a Student Council Representative and Spirit Director, president of Diamond Dolls, a varsity baseball student manager, and a volunteer on mission trips and community service days. She plans to attend Georgia College and State University to study nursing, a path she says was shaped by firsthand experience seeing how small, caring actions can make a real difference in someone’s day.
A Scholarship Well Earned — Twice Over
The Hard-Working Hornet Scholarship was created to recognize the students who embody what it truly means to work hard — not just in pursuit of accolades, but out of genuine character and commitment. This year, the selection committee found that spirit in two young women whose journeys, while different, reflect the same core values: resilience, accountability, and a desire to leave things better than they found them.
The Curtin Team congratulates Ava and Lindsey on this well-deserved recognition and wishes them every success as they head off to the next chapter.
