Eight campus colleges name valedictorians for 2000-2001 academic year
A college valedictorian is an individual who has achieved the highest academic excellence in their field, according to information from the Provost’s office.
All the colleges look at students’ GPAs and consider the top 3 percent for the honor. Then they choose one who either has the best GPA, or in case of a tie, they weight the classes by looking at transfer credits, pass/fail credits, correspondence credits and classes they tested out of.
The business department chose three this year because they were all so closely matched.
For 2000-2001, these students have met the standard of excellence:
Agriculture
Bret J. Stephens, 24, is from Rigby, Idaho. He has a 3.998 GPA.
He’s a crop science major and would like to get his doctorate in biochemistry so he can do research at the industrial level.
“I didn’t plan on being valedictorian. It just turned out that way,” Stephens said. “It probably means more to my mom than it does to me, but it’s nice to see my work pay off.”
Stephens transferred to USU from Ricks College, where he had a full-tuition scholarship. He got his associate’s degree in arts and sciences.
He has a Seeley-Hinckley scholarship.
Business
Julie M. Leavitt, 38, is a mother of four from Smithfield. She is the first distance education valedictorian.
She graduated with her accounting associate’s degree in 1998 from the College of Eastern Utah, where she was also valedictorian.
Leavitt said it has taken a lot of work to be a mom, work and go to school at nights, and, “it’s nice to be recognized for that.”
She is looking into options for doing her master’s work because she would like to be a certified public accountant.
She received a $500 scholarship from USU and has been inducted into several honor societies. She’s been involved with the business club and competed in state and national competitions.
“My family has been really supportive. It’s taken a lot of effort for all of us,” Leavitt said.
Nicole Forsgren, 22, is from Rexburg, Idaho. She is also the valedictorian for the college of business with a 4.0 and also the Business Scholar of the Year.
“I guess it’s an award to myself. All my hard work was worth something,” Forsgren said.
She graduated from Ricks College with two associate’s degrees – computer information systems and accounting. Her major is in business information systems.
She has been a member of Alpha Chi Omega, on the Mortar Board, with the Association for Computing Machinery and the Ricks volleyball team. She has a Spori Scholarship for full tuition, books and fees.
“I’m all about free school,” Forsgren said. She has been on the Dean’s List and Who’s Who List.
After graduation, she plans to work for IBM as a software engineer and get her master’s in management of technology.
She said she’d like to thank the faculty for going “above and beyond” to help her.
Chang-Min Kim attended Chung-Ang University in Seoul, Korea, majoring in biology for two years before joining the Korean Air Force where he served for two and a half years.
He transferred to USU and is majoring in accounting. He has a 4.0 GPA. He is a member of the national honor societies Bega Gamma Sigma, Phi Kappa Phi and Golden Key.
He also received the Seeley-Hinckley Scholarship, the ASIA-HELP Scholarship and served as treasurer of the Korean Students Association.
After graduating in May, Chang-Min Kim will pursue a master’s degree in accounting and take the CPA exam. His ultimate goal is to become a CPA with both a U.S. and a Korean accounting master’s degree.
Chang-Min enjoys spending time with his wife and improving his golf game. He said he looks forward to the opportunity of paying back his good fortune by helping others to also follow their dreams.
“As an international student, I’ve always thought to myself that I have to work harder than American students to keep up with them. I think I’ve been trying to do my best in any situations, and I’m glad that all three years of hard work at USU turned out very well,” he said.
He said he’s grateful to his parents and wife for their support.
“I’d like to attribute the great honor to my parents and my wife,” he said.
Education
Jill Bodily, 24, is a Hyrum native dual majoring in special education and elementary education.
She’s a volunteer coordinator for the Special Olympics and has a Utah teacher’s scholarship. She currently works in the resource department at Logan High School.
“When I came to college, I had no intention of having a 4.0. It’s a big honor, of course. It’s fun to have that. It’s honoring the hard work I’ve put into classes,” Bodily said.
Bodily lived in Venezuela for a year and a half, and she plans to teach elementary education.
Engineering
Barbara Wall is the engineering valedictorian. She was unreachable for comment.
Family life
Sarah Stevenson, 22, is majoring in Family and Human Development.
She’s from North Ogden and has four older brothers who all graduated from USU and one little sister who now attends.
“We’re an Aggie family,” she said.
Sarah said she never really dreamed she would be valedictorian.
“I was very humbled and honored when I found out I was valedictorian. I’m not really sure what I did to deserve this honor,” she said.
She has a 3.94 GPA and has been involved with the College of Family Life on the council and as a senator. While senator, she was a part of ASUSU Executive Council and provided academic activities for the College of Family Life students.
She is now the Alumni Relations vice president for the College of Family Life Council and has been involved in different committees. She is in the presidency for Associated Students of Family and Human Development and has participated in the presidency for Phi Upsilon Omicron Honor Society.
She is on the Senior Send-off Committee for SAA. She received a Family Life Endowment Scholarship for the year 2000-2001 and the Outstanding Senior of the Year for Family and Human Development Award for 2000-2001.
She is a member of the National Golden Key Honors Society and was also the recipient of the Senior Student Scholarship for the National Golden Key Honors Society. She recently became a member of the Phi Kappa Phi Honors Society.
HASS
Scott A. Young, 23, is from Williamsburg, Va. He is a political science major with a minor in business and Spanish and an international relationship certification. He has a 4.0 GPA.
Young said he hadn’t planned on being valedictorian, but after having a 4.0 for three years, he started to feel the pressure of the possibility.
“I feel really good about it,” Scott said. “But I would have been just as happy not being the valedictorian and still having the grades. I always strive for perfection. The honor is great.”
Young was USU’s Man of the Year and the Scholar of the Year for the College of HASS this year. He received a four-year Presidential Scholarship to Utah State University, the John S. and Unita Welch Scholarship in Pre-law and received USU’s Outstanding Senior Scholarship from Golden Key National Honor Society.
He received the Distinguished Service Award for Outstanding Achievement and Contribution from ASUSU, received an ASUSU Leadership Scholarship, received a Phi Kappa Phi Certificate for High Scholastic Achievement, and was nominated for the Phi Kappa Phi National Graduate Fellowship.
He is on the National Dean’s List, the University Honor Roll and the University Dean’s List.
He was the valedictorian for Logan High School in 1995. This summer he plans to go to law school.
Natural resources
Brandi Lynn Price is the natural resources valedictorian. She was unreachable for comment.
Science
Uyen Tu Chau is the science valedictorian. She’s working in
California until May and was unavailable for comment.