Ceremony Recognizes Student Membership in International Honor Society
By GARY STALLARD
AC News Service
On Thursday, Angelina College held its annual ceremony inducting its 25 newest members into the Upsilon Rho Chapter of Phi Theta Kappa – the international honor society for two-year colleges.
The honorees crossed the stage to sign their names into the PTK membership book while receiving their traditional candles and roses, along with the ceremonial cord presented by AC president Dr. Michael Simon.
Guest speaker for the event was Madi Stott, a Hudson High School and Angelina College alumnus who currently serves with the Lufkin Chamber of Commerce. Stott reminded students of their potential as future leaders.
“In my role, I get to help people from high school students to seasoned professionals discover who they are as leaders, connect to their communities and realize that leadership isn’t about position or power,” Stott said. “It’s about people, and it’s about purpose. Most importantly, it’s about presence.”
Stott, a first-generation college student, shared her experiences with uncertainty and how her time at AC helped develop her confidence to move into areas she hadn’t considered.
“I didn’t have a road map or a long line of degrees to follow,” Stott said. “I started here at AC with dual-credit classes, and at the time, I didn’t know what I planned to do, who I wanted to be or where I wanted to end up. I just knew that I wanted something more.
“I learned that leadership doesn’t begin when you arrive. It begins right where you are.”
Simon spoke of the emphasis on grades and how it relates to various professions. He added that such focus reflects a student’s desire to “get it right nearly every time.”
“I really believe the people who take their studies seriously and work hard to get good grades are developing the skills and the ability to get it right nearly all the time,” Simon said. “We thank you for representing Angelina College so well, we thank you for the work you’ve done and the contributions you’ve made to our learning community.”
Students inducted on Thursday (along with their hometowns of record) included the following:
Landen Billingsley (Shepherd, TX), Katelyn Blackshire (Huntington, TX), Juana Bulla (Medellin, Colombia), Sarah Carpenter (Diboll, TX), Cedesha Curtis (Timpson, TX), Adrien Ebersbach (France), Becky Emeka (Dortmund, Germany), William Fitzgerald (Nacogdoches, TX), Eduardo Flores (Lufkin, TX), Christopher Garcia (Lufkin, TX), Nerea Garcia Palomera (Barcelona, Spain), Madison Hamilton (Lufkin, TX), Corbin Ryder Hardin (Lufkin, TX), Andrew Hubbard (Lufkin, TX), Shuto Ishikawa (Chiba, Japan), Madeleine Lee (Lufkin, TX), Kaisei Nagayoshi (Hyogo, Japan), Kathryn Nick (Lufkin, TX), Lennart Poth (Trier, Germany), Gendaraneshy Rodriguez (Shepherd, TX), Paula Suarez (Bogota, Colombia), Iori Tanaka (Kyoto, Japan), Marisol Torres (Nacogdoches, TX), Emily Vazquez (Tyler, TX) and Arwyn Woltz (Lufkin, TX).
From AC’s Phi Theta Kappa page:
“Phi Theta Kappa is an international honor society for the two-year college. The purpose of Phi Theta Kappa is demonstrated in the four hallmarks of the society: scholarship, leadership, fellowship and service. Through activities the organization strives to honor those hallmarks for the improvement of the community, the college, others and themselves. To be eligible for membership, a student must have a cumulative GPA of 3.5 and have completed at least 12 hours of college work. Members must maintain at least a 3.0 GPA each semester following their induction. Provisional membership is available to students who have not yet completed twelve hours of college credit.”
For further information regarding Phi Theta Kappa, contact Gerardo Valladares at gvalladares@angelina.edu.
Photo caption:
Group photo:
Angelina College recently inducted 25 new members into its Upsilon Rho Chapter of Phi Theta Kappa, the international honor society for two-year colleges. The ceremony took place inside AC’s Hudgins Hall. Not pictured: Kathryn Nick and Emily Vazquez. (Gary Stallard photo for AC News Service)
Madi Stott, guest speaker:
Guest speaker Madi Stott addresses the crowd during Thursday’s ceremony at Angelina College. AC inducted 25 new members into the Upsilon Rho Chapter of Phi Theta Kappa – the international honor society for two-year colleges. (Gary Stallard photo for AC News Service)