ASPIRE

West Virginia University has released its graduation honors for the fall 2019 semester.

At West Virginia University, where students are encouraged to “Go First,” Dylan Vest has taken that mantra to heart. He was the first in his family to go to college, to travel abroad and even get on a plane. Now he’s one step closer to his dream of becoming a Foreign Service Officer by becoming the first WVU student to receive the highly competitive Thomas R. Pickering Graduate Fellowship from the U.S. State Department.

A West Virginia University Honors College student who wants to pursue bridging the gap between the technical world and the healthcare sector has been awarded a Gilman Scholarship to study in Denmark.

West Virginia University has released its graduation honors for the spring 2019 semester. A total of 4,221 students graduated from the University in May.

Armed with a degree in international studies from West Virginia University, Lauren Headley plans to use what she’s learned in the Peace Corps. The first WVU graduate of the Peace Corps Prep Program, Headley, who is from Myersville, Maryland, has applied for a Peace Corps volunteer position in Senegal.

Six West Virginia University students will study or intern abroad this summer as Gilman Scholars. Wrenna Dorrer, Myya Helm, Iain MacKay, Morgan McCardell, Veronica Nicole and Juliana O'Reilly will gain skills that are critical to the country’s national security and economic prosperity while gaining an enriching cultural and career-building experience.

Laura Curry has never been abroad, but next year she’ll have the opportunity to study in Tanzania as West Virginia University’s 26th Boren Scholar. As a history major in the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, Curry has concentrations in American, African, Asian and Latin American history but developed a special interest in Africa.

This year’s honorees are Manal AlNatour, Dana Huebert Lima, Kimberly Meigh, Joshua Osbourn, Audra Slocum and Andrea Taliaferro. Established in 1985 by the WVU Foundation, the Outstanding Teaching Award honors faculty who are particularly effective and inspiring teachers, as well as faculty who have established patterns of exceptional innovation in their teaching methods, course and curriculum design and instructional tools.

Five West Virginia University women have been awarded the prestigious Fulbright Scholarship to teach English abroad next year. All the winners are from West Virginia.

Kassandra Colón, a West Virginia University student committed to improving cultural representation in the classroom, has been named the University’s 24th Truman Scholar, the nation’s top graduate fellowship award for aspiring public service leaders.