Two NCCC students selected for SUNY Chancellor’s Awards

North Country Community College Students Chloe Nott and Victoria Smith have been named recipients of the 2018 SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence.
Nott, who hails from Tamworth, New South Wales, Australia, and Smith, who is from Massena, traveled to the award ceremony in Albany Wednesday with their parents, college President Dr. Steve Tyrell and a contingent of college faculty and staff.
They were among 249 SUNY students from across the state to receive 2018 Chancellor’s Awards for Student Excellence from SUNY Chancellor Kristina M. Johnson. The award, created in 1997, recognizes students for accomplishments in the areas of leadership, athletics, community service, creative and performing arts, campus involvement, or career achievement.
“I am immensely proud of these students, who have demonstrated academic excellence and dedication to their campuses and communities,” said Chancellor Johnson. “From research publications in industry journals to volunteering in hospitals and local clinics to holding leadership roles at their institutions, I am inspired by each student we recognize today.”
Nott is a second-year student in the college’s Sports and Event Management program. She has excelled in the classroom, maintaining a 4.0 GPA, and has been an outstanding athlete at the college. She led the Saints women’s soccer and lacrosse teams as a captain, has received numerous awards, and last semester was named a first-team Scholar All-American. In addition, Chloe is an accomplished banjo player who has pursued her passion for music by attending bluegrass and country music festivals, taking bluegrass workshops and networking with other musicians during her time in the U.S.
“Receiving this award has been such an honor and privilege,” Nott said. “Being nominated by those at the college meant just as much. My time at NCCC has given me the opportunity to further my studies and play collegiate level sports, but also to become involved with the community and create some really special, lasting friendships.”
Smith, who is from Massena, is in her third year at the college. She graduated from the Licensed Practical Nursing program last year and is now working on her RN and Health Sciences degrees. In addition to her studies at the college, Smith has volunteered on mission trips to Uganda and India, and participated in a medical brigade to Honduras in March of this year. Smith is a member of Phi Theta Kappa, the honor society for two-year colleges, has received several awards and was selected to represent the college as this year’s Saranac Lake Winter Carnival Princess.
“I feel blessed to be receiving this award,” Smith said. “Hard work and dedication is worth being recognized, not only my work but also the effort put forth by my instructors and mentors here at NCCC. The truth is, I did not get to this point on my own. I have been surrounded by people that have seen my dedication to learning, meeting me there, then helping me surpass my goals. Thank you!”
“The college is proud to celebrate Chloe’s and Victoria’s accomplishments and congratulates them on being recognized with their peers as the best students in the SUNY system,” said Dr. Tyrell. “They are dedicated, hard-working and compassionate students who’ve enriched our campus and are fine examples of the promise the future holds for all of us.”
Each year, SUNY campus presidents establish a Chancellor’s Award selection committee, which reviews the accomplishments of exemplary students. Nominees are then forwarded to the Chancellor’s Office for a second round of review. Finalists are then recommended to the Chancellor to become recipients of the award.
Photo caption: North Country Community College students Chloe Nott, left, and Victoria Smith stand with college President Dr. Steve Tyrell after they were named recipients of 2018 SUNY Chancellor’s Awards for Student Excellence at a ceremony in Albany, N.Y.