By Dr. Douglas Young, Professor of Political Science

Political science major Hannah Hudgins won the UNG-Gainesville’s prestigious Clark-Theodore Award for Outstanding Traditional Student of the Year. Hannah plans to graduate from UNG this fall and attend law school in 2017.

Hannah Hudgins is one of the most impressive students I have taught in 30 years. Her academic accomplishments at the University of North Georgia-Gainesville are magnificent. She made the President’s List four times as well as the Dean’s List. In addition, in Hannah was awarded the Outstanding UNG Political Science Student Award and in 2016 the Clark-Theodore Outstanding Student Award for the entire Gainesville campus.

Having been blessed to teach Miss Hudgins five times, I know she is the ideal student: always in class, on time, paying close attention, taking notes diligently, displaying such a cheerful attitude, and doing excellent work on tests and term papers. In fact, Hannah wrote some of the best research papers I have ever graded. In short, Miss Hudgins is the kind of student I would like to clone for all my classes.

Making Hannah’s scholastic accolades all the more noteworthy is that she worked her way through college. At the Braselton Animal Hospital she helped with a wide variety of jobs to take care of the animals. At the law office of Scott R. Tolbert, she has worked for an attorney and a paralegal, assisting each with many important legal tasks.

Miss Hudgins contributed significantly to the extracurricular life of our campus. In addition to participating in many special events of the multiple-award-winning Politically Incorrect Club, she demonstrated meaningful leadership and a commitment to help fellow students. Hannah is the secretary of UNG’s Pre-Law Society, and has served on the Standards Board of UNG’s Delta Phi Epsilon sorority in which role she was responsible for impartially holding her sisters to the standards of the organization.

This young lady has likewise tangibly helped many folks in need. Indeed, through her sorority, she helped raise funds for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, the Delta Phi Epsilon Educational Foundation, and the National Association for Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders.

So Hannah is a magnificent role model for our students since she personifies academic excellence while enlivening the extracurricular life of the campus and showing how to successfully juggle classes, clubs, work, and philanthropy. Having a positive persona, ready smile, poise, professional dress, and kind, friendly demeanor, she represents the very best of UNG’s students. She’s far too humble to say it, but I will: Hannah Hudgins is a spectacular Clarke-Theodore Student of the Year Award winner and UNG-Gainesville political science graduate.