Honors Discipline Awards

At the close of each academic year, Honors faculty meet to discuss the academic accomplishments of our students and select one individual within each of our primary areas of study for special recognition.

Honors Student of the Year: Justin Mitchell

While completing linked Honors courses in the Humanities, Psychology, Philosophy, and World Religions, Justin has distinguished himself, not just as an exceptional student, but as an emerging scholar. He came to the classroom ever ready to build on his skills of close reading and textual analysis, while "consistently elevating class conversations." With his professors, he crafted a focused, interdisciplinary course of study that continued outside the classroom with dozens of written philosophical exchanges. This work culminated in the creation of a capstone Honors Independent Study and authorship of an extended paper drawing the life of fifteenth century Swiss mystic Nicholas of Flüe and the gnostic Gospel of Thomas into conversation with Carl Jung’s theories. Faculty are working with Justin now to publish at least two of his academic papers. Building on his already accomplished foundations, we anticipate continued outstanding academic work from Justin in the future.

Honors Coursework: Contemporary Culture and the Arts; Modern and Contemporary Philosophy; Theories Of Personality; World Religions; Psychological Approaches to Religion and Mythology

Public Intellectual Awardees: Rachel Lee and Jose Reyna

Honors faculty decided that both Rachel Lee and Jose Reyna deserved to be recognized for their larger commitments to service and social change.

Rachel plans a career in education and deliberately chose coursework that was cross-disciplinary, applied, and foundational to understanding the complexity of her students' everyday lives. One professor wrote, "Rachel has a serious commitment to social justice, and she goes above and beyond academic requirements to explore topics in their depth and complexity. She does not settle for the simple answers, but rather studies every topic with seriousness and an eye for detail and nuance." Others pointed to her growth mindset, interpersonal sensitivity, and creativity. Rachel has shown organizational leadership in Oakton's Phi Theta Kappa chapter and as the founder of the Oakton Future Educators Club and is known for her eloquent public voice. As a future educator, she is sure to inspire her students to think harder and go deeper.

Honors Coursework: Introduction to Education; Composition I; Learning Community: Introduction to Environmental Science & Composition II; Educational Psychology; Environmental Ethics; Introduction to Social and Cultural Anthropology.

Jose began his Honors coursework in Spring 2020 in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, while working in health care and being called to training and service in the National Guard. Despite the brief time left in his Oakton tenure, he earned 23 credit hours in Honors to complete the Honors Scholars Designation. His commitment to public scholarship extended from his research projects in Biology to a documentary photography project of frontline workers. As a seminar participant, Jose critically brought his lived and professional experience into the classroom, especially when discussing charged, complex topics concerning health care, immigration, military service, masculinity, and trauma. We expect that Jose will be a force for integrity, critical-thinking, and compassion in all of his future endeavors.

Honors Coursework: Human Anatomy and Physiology II; Interdisciplinary Undergraduate Laboratory Research; Java Computer Science I; Microbiology; Contemporary Culture and the Arts; Learning Community: Women and Literature &: Introduction to Women's and Gender Studies.

Liberal Arts Awardee: Noora Bahrami

While excelling in the STEM fields, as a member of the Robotics team and planning a career in urban planning/civil engineering, Noora distinguished herself in Liberal Arts courses as an accomplished writer with a strong commitment to social and environmental justice. Noora is known for her insightful and generous participation in seminars, her tremendous support of colleagues, and strong work ethic. Noora finished last year's STEM Scholars/Honors learning community with a 100% for both halves.

Honors Coursework: Composition I; Effective Speech; Honors/STEM Scholar Learning Community: Introduction to Environmental Science with Composition II; Contemporary Culture and the Arts; Special Topics in Philosophy

STEM Awardee: Mariem Abdelrahim

Mariem's stellar performance in her Honors: Microbiology course and leadership in the synchronous online course led to her invitation to serve as only one of two microbiology Lab Assistants for the Spring 2021 semester. Faculty were impressed by her "brilliant intellect, steady presence, and tendency to always over-prepare." In her role as Lab Assistant, Mariem acted to both extend and reinforce her own experience in microbiology, and also to support current students in the class as they grew in their understanding of the field. We extend our best wishes and know that she will continue to be successful as she begins the Pharmacy Program at UIC in the fall.

Environmental Studies Awardee: Ligia Veliciu

As a member of the Honors Summer Field Study, Ligia was a "calm and thoughtful presence, consistently providing interesting interpretations of readings, and whole-heartedly engaging in the immersive learning experiences while hiking and botanizing in the field." Honors faculty praise her "strong intellectual curiosity and a strong willingness to question her own assumptions and values in relation to what she is learning." She has been an important participant in all of her Honors seminars and adept at bringing other students into discussions in an inviting way. Finally, from her participation in the 2020 Indigenous Peoples' Day to her investigation of issues related to environmental justice and disability, faculty noted that Ligia consistently seeks out powerful opportunities to live her values. An Honors Scholar Designee, Ligia also earned a Certificate in Environmental Studies.

Honors Coursework: Introduction to Environmental Science; Summer Field Study: Plants and Society & Introduction To Literature; Introduction to Business; Elements of Economics; Environmental Ethics.

Global Studies Awardee: Dasha Raguimov

Dasha’s longstanding academic and personal commitment has been to languages, cultural analysis, and Global Studies. She has studied Russian, French, Mandarin, Korean, and Japanese; this year she earned her TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) Certificate. Honors faculty have admired Dasha’s exacting academic standards, broad curiosity, and complete immersion in her intellectual interests. In her last Honors learning community, Dasha embarked on a final project examining the role of Japanese women in the creation of the contemporary Japanese syllabary. Beyond her research, she painstakingly created the scripts herself using formal techniques. Dasha’s ambitions as a student and global citizen are evident in every part of her coursework in the Honors Program.

Honors Coursework: Composition I; Introduction To Political Science; Intermediate Japanese II; Learning Community: Women and Literature & Introduction to Women's and Gender Studies; World Religions

Peace and Social Justice Studies Awardee: Adelle Kelly

It is no accident that Adelle's entire record of Honors courses reflects their dedication to social justice and civic transformation. Their long list Honors projects includes interdisciplinary approaches to questions in environmental ethics, food studies, and globalization; Adelle's poignant examination of police brutality connecting the writing of W.E.B. Du Bois with artist Nick Cave’s sound suits was singled out by Honors faculty as an especially original capstone to her Honors coursework. Finally, even during the height of social distancing, Adelle was a constant presence in several important civic-minded co-curricular events at Oakton, while often acting almost as a co-teacher in class by introducing their own research on the campaigns of local activists to classmates.

Honors Coursework: Environmental Ethics; Urban Sociology; Learning Community: Introduction to Environmental Science with English: Research Writing in Food Studies; Learning Community: Contemporary Culture and the Arts with Ethics

Women’s and Gender Studies Awardee: Paola Castro

Paola's work in Women's and Gender Studies began with a Women, Culture, and the Arts course. As a member of the Honors Program, she has pursued an integrated program of study from her early Honors Contract focusing on the borderland theory of Gloria Anzaldúa to her dialogue with community artist William Estrada to her detailed research on Sadie Barnette’s installation, FBI Drawings: No Violence. Paola’s professors praised her for her passion, intellectual curiosity, and concern for others. She has been especially effective in opening and extending vulnerable and important discussions about race, sexuality, immigration, violence, and creativity within her Honors seminars. Her accomplishments are all the more notable given how early Paola is in her academic career, and we fully expect that she will earn the Honors Scholar Designation and complete the Women’s and Gender Studies Certificate in coming year.

Honors Coursework: Introduction To Philosophy; Learning Community: Women and Literature & Introduction to Women's and Gender Studies; Learning Community: Contemporary Culture and the Arts & Ethics