In an effort to commend those who go above and beyond, the Office of Special Events and Projects will host the annual Student Life Achievement Awards, or the STUEY’s, on April 12 at 6 p.m. in the Rose and Alfred Miniaci Performing Arts Center.
Christina Rajkumar, assistant director of Special Events and Projects, said the STUEY’s is an annual awards show that brings the community together to celebrate and recognize the remarkable students, student organizations, faculty, staff, administrators and community business partners at NSU.
Natalie Negron, former Farquhar College of Arts and Sciences student of the year, said that the STUEY’s are incredible because they don’t just nominate students.
“They nominate hardworking people all over NSU’s campus: students, organizations, professors and more,” she said. “It really shows all the best NSU has to offer.”
Each nominee is selected based on his or her hard work, dedication and demonstration of NSU’s core values. After a candidate or organization is nominated, members of the STUEY Nomination Selection Committee, comprised of NSU administrators and previous STUEY award recipients, review the candidates and vote for whom they believe should win.
“An event like the STUEY’s is important because it is designed to highlight those who are going above and beyond in their pursuit of NSU’s core values of academic excellence, student centeredness, integrity, innovation, opportunity, scholarship and research, diversity, and community,” Rajkumar said.
Danielle Lerch, 2015 College of Pharmacy student of the year, said that winning a STUEY for the College of Pharmacy was both a humbling experience and an honor. Even though she did not win overall student of the year, she said that the experience of representing her college was amazing and that it solidified that all of her hard work does not go unnoticed.
She said the College of Pharmacy contains over 500 students and that to be the one chosen out of all of the other applicants was breathtaking.
Negron said that the instant she found out she was nominated for her college’s student of the year, she broke down in tears. She also said that the honor of representing her college was both overwhelming and wonderful.
“This event is important because it recognizes hard work, and I think people need that,” she said.
Negron said that seeing her friends get nominated the year before encouraged her to push harder. She said that not only was she happy for them to receive such honorable mention, but that it also made her realize it’s not enough to be average.
“I’m not the best student,” she said. “I know handfuls of hardworking people and have even graduated with some of the most dedicated people I have ever met, but when you take the time to recognize someone, it means so much. It encourages other students to work harder.”
She also said that students should not let the fear of failing prevent them from trying and that an event like the STUEYs is important because it is a direct example of the power of perseverance.
Nominations were accepted between Nov. 2 and Jan. 11. Anyone in the NSU community was eligible to nominate others based on personal beliefs about why those candidates should win a STUEY.
This year’s STUEY’s will include the award presentation and entertainment.
Tickets for this event are no longer available. For more information about the STUEY’s, contact Rajkumar at cr1459@nova.edu.
Photo Credit. D. Lerch
