Student Spotlight

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Orientation 2019 students with balloons
Fall 2024-Spring 2025 Student Spotlight 
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Prisha Kittu(1st from left) and Anna Rodgers (1st from right) just returned from presenting their research at the Honors Council of the Illinois Region Annual Student Symposium 2025, Governors State University, IL.  An intense day of learning and sharing - where many remembered the 2024 symposium we had hosted on our campus.
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Gladis Sunny (1st from right) and Emma McConnell (1st from left) presented their original research to guests and participants of the Illinois Junior Science and Humanities Symposium hosted by the SIU STEM Research Center on Feb. 22nd. 
Way to go Gladis and Emma! 🎉
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Natalie Eves (2nd from right) Honors Assembly co-president recently attended the National Collegiate Honors Council conference planning session in San Diego as one of her first commitments as a new student board member. Way to represent SIU Honors at the national level, Natalie! 🎉____________________________________________________________________________________________
Carly Gist received one the 15 positions available for the three week (May 18 – June 7)  Radio in the American Sector Berlin Commission program for U.S. Broadcast Journalists!   Congratulations Carly!
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Honors Assembly is planning out the Spring 2025 semester. Look out for socials, study sessions, and other events.  Interested in knowing more? Email the co-presidents:  Natalie Eves (natalie.eves@siu.edu)  or Anna Rodgers (anna.rodgers@siu.edu)
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Elisa Lopez, majoring in Business with a minor in Spanish is rounding out her senior year with a McNair Scholarship and paper presentation (accepted with travel support) by the Association of Marketing Theory & Practice (AMTP) 2025.  This year’s conference is hosted by Georgia Southern University Parker College of Business and will be held between March 30 - April 2, 2025.
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annabel-carr.jpegAnnabel Carr has won the Margaret Messer Student Research Grant, 2024-25 from HCIR (Honors Council of the Illinois Region) for her work in Psychology with Dr. Yee Pin Tio on the correlation between experiencing childhood emotional abuse/childhood neglect and depression, looking at resiliency as a moderator. Along with Annabel, the other members of the research team are Kaiyah Adams, Elizabeth Lipscomb, and Eli Quinn.
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30279a56-2b78-22b9-7ea8-ebdba6368814.jpgNatalie Eves, Co-president of the Honors Assembly has been chosen to be a member of the Student Affairs Committee for the NCHC (National Collegiate Honors Council)!  We are proud to have her represent our Honors Program and look forward to the ideas she will bring back for us from the National Honors Community.
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noah-clark.jpgNoah Clark, graduates at 19, SIU News highlights Noah's accomlishments.  Read here
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carly-gist-and-justyce-petty.jpegCarly Gist (Journalism, on the right) and Justyce Petty (Political Science) are awarded the Pat Browne Undergraduate Award,  Midwest Popular Culture Association.
The extreme always seems to make an impression: How HEATHERS’ Portrayal of the Glorification of Mental Illness Went From Warning to Reality in the Age of Social Media, at the Midwest Popular Culture Association Conference, Chicago, October 4-6, 2024.   Despite not being theater majors, they say, "we are very passionate about the arts, as well as mental health awareness."  That's the Honors ethos:  Learn. Lead. Serve.  Read more on the power of interdisciplinary research here
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gladis-sunny-annabelle-barnes-reese-billingsley-wel-med-group-portz-winners.jpgGladis Sunny, Annabelle Barnes, and Reese Billingsley win the 2024 Portz Fellowship award from the NCHC.
The award supports their independent study project, The Honors Design-Wellness Study (HDWS): Ring Splints: A Doorway to Explore Art, Design, & Medicine.   They are working under the guidance of Dr. James Lynch (Year one Doctoring Director, SIU Med school) Dr. Lingguo Bu (Associate Professor, School of Education, design thinking) and Dr. Jyotsna Kapur (Professor, cinema and media arts) to research and develop ring splints using our 3-D printing lab, while reflecting on the human capacity to imagine and expand the capabilities of the human body. 
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gracie-murphy.jpgGracie Murphy reflects on serving as a national FFA officer:
An SIU Chancellor’s Scholar from Macomb, Illinois, Murphy served as one of just six national FFA officers beginning in October 2022. She led more than 945,000 FFA members in the role after successfully competing in a series of interviews, speeches, mock discussions and other activities for nearly a week while being judged by a committee.  Read more
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eli-jones-and-aleida-iriart-029-sm.jpgAleida Irarte and Elijah Jones have been accepted into the National Science Foundation’s Graduate Research Fellowship Program
Eli Jones (left), majoring in chemistry with a specialization in chemical catalysis, hopes to become a chemistry professor, applying data science and programming tools to unveil trends in reactivity that would be impossible to observe through traditional means. Aleida Iriarte (right), majoring in zoology and chemistry with specializations in wildlife biology, environmental chemistry and biochemistry, plans to earn her doctorate at the University of Florida with the long-term goal of becoming a biodiversity conservationist and researcher.  Read more
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Congratulations to our 2024-2025 REACH Award recipients!

Bethany Bergschneider

Thierra Christopher

Natalie Eves

Max Fieber

Brenna Gusewelle

Eli Howton

Caitlyn Kleiss

James Martin

Morgan Meinicke

Hannah Phillips

Josh Vogel

Samuel Wang
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Sarah Lukavsky wins the 2024 Southern Illinois University System Distinguished Student Service Award.  

                                       
The award recognizes students “whose acts of service are demonstrative of excellence and exemplary commitment to the support, advancement and achievement of fellow students, their campus, and their community.”  Sarah is a first-generation college student, graduating this May with an outstanding academic record (3.985 GPA and a McNair Scholarship), majoring in Zoology with a specialization in Wildlife Biology and a minor in Environmental Studies.  She is also the outgoing President of the Honors assembly. Congratulations Sarah! We wish you every success.
 
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