Student Support Services Student Earns Top Honors

Graduating this week with an Associate of Science and Associate of Arts degrees, Melissa Wood of Mounds picked up several awards during Shawnee Community College's 2010 Honors Reception. The term "picked up" makes it sound like she just walked onto the Educational Center stage and was handed the awards, but the journey started long before.

Wood, who graduated from Meridian High School, completed the SCC LPN program in 2004. The non-traditional single parent returned last spring and with the close of the semester approaching, she is completing her Associate of Science degree, with honors. Her journey will continue as she transfers to Southern Illinois University in Carbondale with a Bachelor of Science in Physics with a minor in biological sciences as her goal.

Wood is a member of the Student Support Services program, serving as a peer tutor and as an advocate for non-traditional students. The Student Support Services grant services are designed to help students make good grades in college, graduate and transfer to a four-year college or university, while providing assistance to ensure students have a positive and productive higher education experience. About those awards Woods received, "she earned each one of them and still found time to encourage and help others," added Student Support Services Academic/Retention Specialist, Lee Ann George. "Melissa is an inspiration and will surely carry her success to SIU."