A great big congratulations to all of our Honors Awardees, all completers of the Honors Scholar Degree Designation (Designees), and all Graduates and Transfer Students who have taken Honors classes at Oakton in the last few years!

Below is the list of Honors Scholar Designation completers and Honors Award Winners by discipline.

Honors Scholar Degree Designees 2023-2024:

Among all 2022-2023 graduates, 13 students distinguished themselves by completing 18 credit hours within the Honors Program and earning the Honors Scholar Degree Designation. This is the highest achievement possible within the Honors Program and requires an exceptional level of dedication to academic excellence.

Krysha Adaza completed 19 credits in Honors classes, including one Learning Community. She was active on the Campus Activities Board, Phi Theta Kappa, and the Robotics Team. She plans to transfer to Loyola University, Chicago.

Nicholas Barbera completed 19 Credits in Honors classes, including one Learning Community, all within his first year at Oakton. He is transferring to the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
Caroline Barnett completed 18 credits in Honors classes, including the Interdisciplinary Lab. She is continuing at Oakton next year, and then plans to transfer to a four year university to continue studying Medical Laboratory Science.
John Christ completed 22 credits in Honors classes, including one Learning Community. He plans to transfer to either Loyola University Chicago or Northwestern University School of Professional Studies to study History and Pre-Law.
Angellei Cortes completed 21 credits in Honors classes, including one Learning Community, all within one year, while working as an EMT. She is transferring to North Central College planning to major in Behavioral Neuroscience.
Lydia Jovi Cruz completed 19 credits in Honors classes, including one Learning Community. She plans to transfer to Columbia College Chicago to study Digital Marketing and Digital Media.
Jacob Engel completed 19 credits in Honors classes, including one Learning Community. He was active in the Honors Student Organization. He is transferring to Lake Forest College and plans to study Business and Psychology.
Elisa Joseph completed 19 credits in Honors, including one Learning Community. She plans to transfer to Northeastern Illinois University to complete a Bachelor of Arts degree and become a Certified Public Accountant.
Richard Kim completed 23 credits in Honors classes, including one Honors Independent Study course. He received the Honors Philosophy Disciplinary Award in 2023. He plans to transfer next year and is deciding between University of Chicago, Loyola, Baylor, and Marquette Universities.
Breanna Montoya completed 18 Credits in Honors classes, including one Learning Community, all within her first year at Oakton. She has been active in the Honors Student Organization. She is planning to transfer to Northwestern University to study English.
George Owen completed 18 Credits in Honors classes, all within one year. In Spring 2023, his complete schedule was Honors classes, including one Learning Community and the student/faculty seminar. He plans to transfer to Northwestern University, University of Illinois Chicago, or Loyola University to study Environmental Engineering.
Maria Sen Vallipparampil was a recipient of the Honors Scholarship in coming to Oakton. She completed 20 Credits in Honors classes, including one Learning Community, all in her first year at Oakton. She will be continuing at Oakton next year and plans to transfer to a four-year university—most probably the University of Illinois—to complete her Bachelor's degree in Biology and Pre-Med, with a minor in Business.
Liz Zamora completed 19 Credits in Honors classes, including two Learning Communities. She was our inaugural recipient of the Graff-Stacewicz Public Intellectuals Scholarship. She has led the Environmental Club and been active in the Honors Student Organization. She plans to transfer to University of Wisconsin, Parkside to study Geosciences with an Environmental Studies Concentration.

Honors Disciplinary Awards and Scholarships 2023-2024:

The following students were awarded discipline-specific awards by consensus of Oakton’s Honors Program faculty. Please follow the link above to read more about their accomplishments. Many have also submitted Honors coursework to our Student Projects Showcase.

Student of the Year — Richard Kim

Public Intellectual — Liz Zamora

Environmental Studies — Liz Zamora

English — Breanna Montoya

STEM — Aliki Stamati-Chaidropoulou

Health Careers — Caroline Barnett

Humanities — George Owen

Social and Behavioral Sciences — Georgie Charalambous

Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies — Angellei Cortes

Peace and Social Justice Studies — Krysha Adaza

Community Engagement and Activism — Ankhilun Erdene