Southwest’s stellar scholars honored at 2023 Student Honors & Awards Convocation

By Chris Caldwell

Southwest communication major Erika Konig and President Dr. Tracy D. Hall at the 2023 Student Honors & Awards Convocation April 11, 2023 in the Nabors Auditorium.
Communication major Erika Konig and President
Tracy D. Hall at the 2023 Student Honors & Awards
Convocation April 11, 2023.

Congratulations to the 100-plus best and brightest Southwest scholars honored at the 2023 Student Honors and Awards Convocation. The annual celebration is hosted by the Honors Academy and took place in the Nabors Auditorium April 11, 2023. 

“This is a time-honored tradition at Southwest to acknowledge all of you for your academic success in the classroom,” Southwest Tennessee Commuity College President Tracy D. Hall said. “This celebration is for you. We are here because you persevered through the long days and nights, ensuring your goals were met. Your families, the faculty, and staff are all here to congratulate you on being that bright shining light at Southwest.” 

Erika Konig, an immigrant from Mexico and the 2023 Commencement student speaker, said the event was bittersweet as it marked the close of the semester and her time at Southwest. “Being in the honors program was an incredible opportunity for me because the courses pushed me to think outside the box and expand my intellectual boundaries,” Konig said. “I can’t believe my time at Southwest is almost over. Choosing Southwest was about the small class size environments, personalized teaching and cost. Plus the seamless enrollment process reassured me that I made the right choice for college!” 

Konig was honored during Convocation and received an award for “Excellence in Writing: African American Literature.” She graduated with an A.A. in communication in May 2023 and plans to attend the University of Memphis in fall 2023 to pursue a bachelor’s in communication. 

Congratulations to all of the award winners! 

Departmental Academic Awards

RADIOLOGIC TECHNOLOGY AWARDS

Dr. Gurley Award for Academic Excellence in Radiologic Technology:

Seth Hendricks

Sheila King

Dr. Gurley Clinical Excellence in Radiologic Technology

Iris Carranza

Kyle Kasaitis

PHARMACY TECHNOLOGY AWARDS

Outstanding Leadership and Character Award

Kennadi Webber

Student Achievement Award

Jillian Buckner

Academic Award of Excellence

Alyssa Chalmers

PHYSICAL THERAPIST ASSISTANT PROGRAM AWARDS

 Leo Betzelberger Award

Andre’ LeSueur

Judy Clifft Award

Ryan Davis

Academic Excellence

Autumn Coleman

Blake Bradley

Clinical Excellence

Melanie Young

Majdi Alnasan

MEDICAL LAB TECHNICIAN AWARDS

Highest Academic Achievement Junior Group Medical Lab Technician

Shyraneka Wilson

Highest Academic Achievement Senior Group Medical Lab Technician

Paige Dillon

ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE IN NATURAL SCIENCES AWARDS AAS BIOTECHNOLOGY STUDENT OF THE YEAR 2023

Kaleigh Engstrand

PARALEGAL STUDIES AWARDS

Paralegal Studies Student of the Year

Annie Emerson

Lambda Epsilon Chi (LEX) Inductees

Annie Emerson

Lavanda Mayfield

ACCOUNTING AWARDS

Elsie Mae Swoboda AAS Accounting Scholarship

Amy Rodgers

Carl E. Swoboda, Sr. Accounting Technical Certificate Scholarship

Joshua Sissom

Outstanding Accounting Student of the Year

Cassidy Jackson

BUSINESS AWARD

Business Student of the Year

Jenny Frenn

ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGIES AWARDS

Architectural Design Technology Outstanding Student

Abigail Greenwell

Electrical Engineering Technology Outstanding Student

Jalen Becton

Mechanical Engineering Technology Outstanding Student

Hunter Dowden

TECHNOLOGIES AWARDS

Automotive Technology Outstanding Students

Thomas Littlewood

Kaleb Taylor

Computer Engineering Technology Outstanding Student

Manuel Monjaraz

Computer Information and Technology Outstanding Student

Kadeem Franklin

Larry Pillowe

Mechatronics Technology Academic Award

Brendan Youngblood

Mechatronics Technology Leadership Award

Travis Theil

ADMINISTRATIVE PROFESSIONAL TECHNOLOGY AWARD

Administrative Professional Technology, Medical Office Technology Concentration Student of the Year

Sondos Mamlouk

HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT AWARD

Culinary Arts Concentration Student of the Year

Rachel Drees

CRIMINAL JUSTICE AWARD Criminal Justice Associate of Science TTP Degree

Kalyn Evans

Alvin Glover

COMMUNICATIONS, GRAPHIC, AND FINE ARTS AWARDS Outstanding Communication Students

Ivy Glover

Quinteria Taylor

Outstanding ESL Communication Student

Keyla Perez Gurrola

Outstanding Fine Arts Students

Kaitly Morgan

Aaron Ransom

Outstanding Graphic Arts Technology Student—Production

Hannah Drees

Outstanding Graphic Arts Technology Student—Interactive Multimedia

Isabella Albert

Outstanding Music Student—Piano and Music Technology

Isabella Santos

Outstanding Theatre Student

Crystal Curtright

LANGUAGES AND LITERATURE AWARDS

Developmental Writing, Academic Success, Persistence Award

William Jensen

English Composition I Writing Award

Angie Maldonado Arita

Excellence in Writing: English 1020

William Turner

Excellence in Writing: Early World Literature

Emma Allred

Excellence in Writing: African American Literature

Erika Konig

Lauren Mason

SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES AWARDS

SBS John P. Bacon Academic Achievement Award

Jordan Victor

Madison Ezell

Makayla Lindsey

LEADERSHIP AND SERVICE AWARDS

RISING SALUQI OF THE YEAR

Jacqueline Booker

STUDENT CLUB OF THE YEAR

Student Government Association

STUDENT LEADERSHIP AWARDS

Tyrek Gatewood

Angelina Rose

Asia Johnson

CAREER SERVICES INTERNSHIP CERTIFICATE

Robert Biederstadt

Zeynab Fall

Tamitha Richardson

Rachel Tines

OUTSTANDING PEER TUTOR

Micki Lucas

VA STUDENTS ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE AWARD

Marissa Bloodworth

Maria Garcia

Lauren Herbert

Sanaa Lewis

Moesha Moore

Rebekah Rubio

Jalen Stamps

PROJECT M.O.S.T. AWARDS

THE ALL M.O.S.T. AWARD

Anthony Washington

GRIT AWARDS

Eleazar Houston

Carl Slappy

Ikenna Ugwuanyi

BLACK DIAMOND AWARDS

Bryan Anderson

Ryan Chenault

Tony Coles

Lunnie Gross

Thomas Hampton

Joseph Hawkins

Riley Holmes

Jordan Swift

Olowookere Temitope

ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE

Christopher Banks

Myles Bougard

Noah Boyd

Israel Cobbs

William Farris

Kamrin Jones

Zuri Muhammad

Marcus J. Taylor

Ikenna Ugwuanyi

Tramond Vaughn

ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT

Tyrek Gatewood

Marcotis Hall

Antonio Hill

Eleazar Houston

Taurus McDaniel

Denzel Relliford

Mario Scruggs

Austin Trosclair

Karl Williams III