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CVCC Student Named To All-USA Academic Team April 18, 2007 |
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Robin Potawsky, a student at Catawba Valley Community College, was one of three community college students from North Carolina recently named to the All-USA Academic Team by USA TODAY. Sixty outstanding two-year college students are named to the team each year. First, second, and third teams, each consisting of 20 members, are selected from nearly 1,600 nominations. Potawsky was named to the third team. Sharon Smith and Wendy Gade of Asheville Buncombe Technical Community College were also named to the second team. All 60 members were featured in USA Today’s April 16 edition. The first place team students also were honored at the American Association of Community Colleges 2007 Annual Convention in Tampa in April. Phi Theta Kappa, USA TODAY and the American Association of Community Colleges sponsor the All-USA Academic Team program annually. To be eligible, a student must post a minimum 3.25 cumulative GPA and be eligible to graduate with an associate degree. Selection is based on nominations submitted by community college presidents or CEOs. The program seeks to honor outstanding students who also represent the range of students found on American community college campuses. Traditional, non-traditional, early start and international students all have been named to the first team. Judging criteria include academic excellence and intellectual rigor; leadership and service; and how students have extended their education beyond the classroom to benefit society. It is a merit award based on what students have done while attending community college, rather than a need-based scholarship. Potawsky is an English major at Catawba Valley Community College and will graduate this August. She plans to attend the University of North Carolina at Asheville to pursue a bachelor’s degree in language and creative writing with a minor in the classics. Her ultimate goal is to earn a master’s degree in English and one day return to the community college environment and teach. A graduate of Hibriten High School in Lenoir, Potawsky is past president of the CVCC chapter of Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society and a past member of the Circle K Club. She was selected to participate in the 2006 and 2007 CVCC Student Leadership Institute and the 2006 Southwest Adventure, an experiential learning odyssey created by CVCC in which students travel to the American Southwest and examine first-hand the cultures of the Navajo (or Dine’) and the Pueblo peoples indigenous to the area. She received an Excellence in Expository Writing Award in 2006 and an Excellence in Creative Writing in 2007 at the Annual CVCC Awards Day and was nominated for the CVCC President’s Award in 2007. Her essay was featured in CVCC’s self-published college success textbook. Potawsky was selected for a 2007 Academic Excellence Award by the North Carolina Community College System. She is an active member of Women for Women International which helps women survivors in war-torn counties. She helped form a socially conscious CVCC service club called Seeds of Service which raised nearly $4,000 by hosting a benefit walk/run for Women for Women International. Potawsky lives with her husband, Alexander, in Lenoir. The couple has a son, Yuri, who attends Appalachian State University. # # # |
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