Nominees are in for the annual Distinguished Man and Woman of the Year awards to be presented at the Associated Students Honors and Award Banquet on May 24.
The awards are traditionally bestowed on students nominated by their peers and faculty, with selections based on criteria including completion of 30 units, at least a 2.5 GPA and two semesters of involvement in clubs and campus activities, along with demonstration of leadership ability.
The student affairs office sent faculty applications to distribute to classes for nominations. The judging committee of three students, Dean of Student Affairs Paul Schlossman and AS faculty adviser Dr. Joseph Puglia, will review applications next week to select from the remaining five nominees from each category.
The Distinguished Man of the Year nominees are as follows: Bahar Boctor, Harold Bond, Victor Castellanos, Eugene Gonzalez, Matthew Goodlaw, Tade Hartoonian, Daniel Hurt, Oscar Limon, Marco Llaguno, Georges Mikhael, Afshin Navabsafavi, Sarkis Nazaryan, Eric Tazekand, Dan Wengert, Jae Yoo, and Armen Zenhaly.
The nominees for Distinguished Woman of the Year are as follows: Claudia Acevedo, Anna Astachkina, Crystal Austin, Lina Azarian, Izabella Babayan, Karen Badal, Oxana Davydova, Natasha Diguis, Maria Donaldson, Tandik Evazyan, Ampario Fortis, Danielle Foster, Jennifer Fraley, Maryam Gochani, Tanya Gregorian, Elmira (Amy) Latashikyan, Karen Llewellyn, Feng Lui, Nancy Lopez, Kim Lorimer, Gladis Martinez, Jodie Matz, Claudia Mera, Sherly Mosessian, Ana Navarez, Christine Paknik, Dany Paragouteva, Marilu Ramos, Margaret Salazar, Talin Salamassi-Arakelian, Jean Schindler, Tatevik Shakbandaryan, Karoline Tomicich, and Vanessa Vargas.
The winners will receive a prize of $350, and the remaining four nominees will each receive $150 along with a certificate. Last year’s woman of the year, Rachel Melikian explained how the award changed her life.
“Receiving the award gave me a tremendous feeling,” said Melikian. “It gave me the power to believe in myself and it also showed me that my belief system of hard work and perfection would allow me to reach any dream that I may have,” said Melikian. “I felt very happy that all my hard work paid off.
“There is no limitation to any woman or human being when they conceive in their mind what they decide to achieve. I have worked very hard to make others see the spirit of GCC and to encourage others to do as much as they can.”
The awards banquet is at 6:30 p.m. May 24 at The Castaway restaurant in Burbank. In addition to the awards ceremony, the outgoing AS government will announce the newly elected officers for the fall.
Tickets are $27 for general admission and $20 for GCC students, faculty and staff. For more information, call Ext. 5594