Photo courtesy of Foster Photography Katie Hogan

EAST NAPLES When Katie Hogan took chemistry during her junior year at Lely High School, she was hooked.

"Everyone was complaining about how hard it was," Katie said as she sat in the library on her last day of school. "I said, 'It's not hard, it's easy.' I ended up helping other students. Science has always been easy for me."

So she asked her mother, Jackie, a pharmaceutical rep, what career was most like chemistry and began working toward that goal.

"Some jobs aren't needed anymore, but people always need medicine," the 18-year-old said. "Pharmacology, I feel like it will always be there."

Katie, who has a 3.869 gpa, is Lely's 2012 Graduate of Distinction. She juggled a full course load in addition to being an award-winning sports captain, volunteering and completing an online pre-calculus class for an extra math credit.

"It takes a lot of self-motivation," said Chris Black, the school's librarian and media specialist, who saw her working online every day. "Math is not an easy subject without someone to teach you."

Black, the school running coach and Katie's coach since seventh grade, called her "one of the best," a seventh-grader who excelled and continued getting better.

"No matter what she does, whether it's athletics or school work, she does whatever you ask her to and she does her best and always has a smile," he said. "She even runs with a smile."

Last week, Katie was awarded the Bright Futures Medallion, meaning 50 percent of her tuition is paid for at a state school. Katie, who lives with her mother; stepfather, Mark Urban; and brother, Danny, originally wanted to go to Florida State University in Tallahassee, but instead chose University of Central Florida in Orlando.

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Class of '12: Lely graduate had good chemistry with school studies