Georgia Highland College Star Student, Cartersville Resident Wins National Award

Amelia Bagwell, a Georgia Highlands College nontraditional student, has spent the last year and a half winning just about every honor the college and its various honorary organizations can bestow. Now she has landed one of the most prestigious. She was named National Collegiate Honors Council Student of the Year recently in New Orleans at the organization’s national conference. The honor carries with it a $1,000 prize and the winner is awarded a medallion commemorating the award.  

Bagwell, a Cartersville resident, did not know she was to receive the award.  

“When they called my name at the banquet, I was both shocked and thrilled," Bagwell said in a press release. "It’s such an honor to be selected from a national pool of deserving candidates. But I must give much credit to the commitment of GHC faculty members who have given so freely of their time and guided me in all my academic endeavors. They have prepared me to meet all the academic challenges that lie ahead. I’m very excited about what comes next in my life.”

Bagwell also said Jayme Feagin, assistant professor of history and director of the GHC honors program, has worked tirelessly to bring the relatively new Georgia Highlands program into the national spotlight. She said a number of directors from around the country asked her about GHC while she was at the conference. 

Feagin has worked with Bagwell since she enrolled at Highlands, and nominated her for the award. The two women traveled to New Orleans for the NCHC national conference, Nov. 6 to 10, where Bagwell presented a white paper on the challenges of building an honors program at two-year colleges. 

“Since starting at Georgia Highlands, Amelia has assumed a number of leadership roles, both academically and socially," Feagin said in the release.  "Her academic work is exceptional, as reflected in her grade point average, her role as president of both the Phi Theta Kappa honors society and our honors club, and the nine honors credits she has earned at GHC. Students like Amelia always inspire educators with their intellect, work ethic and focus on serving others.”

Last year, Bagwell was named to the All-Georgia Academic Team, a program sponsored by two-year college presidents, the national honor society for two-year colleges, Phi Theta Kappa, and community college state associations. She was selected as a 2013 Coca-Cola Bronze Scholar based on scores earned in the All-USA Community College Academic Team competition, of which more than 1,800 applications were received. That program is sponsored by the Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation and is administered by Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society. 

Additionally, she was recently awarded a prestigious national scholarship by the American Association of Women in Community Colleges.  There were only seven recipients of the scholarship, which is awarded on the basis of noteworthy academic accomplishments, community involvement and contributions made in support of women’s issues.

Bagwell plans to earn a baccalaureate in psychology and education and a master’s degree in psychology.  

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