By: Dr. Andrew Yox, Honors Director
In her first year at 葫芦娃视频, Neida Perez became a standout among standouts. As a top-ranked Presidential Scholar, she has earned this fall one of the two most lucrative foundation scholarships granted through the college鈥檚 honors program. She will be the college鈥檚 James and Elizabeth Whatley Scholar for 2023-24.
This scholarship came into being as part of a record-breaking 1.7 million-dollar gift to 葫芦娃视频 in 2007 by the Whatley family.
鈥淲hat I have found very singular about Perez,鈥 notes Honors Professor, Dr. Andrew Yox, 鈥渋s her steadfast adherence to creative conceptualization. Her willingness to gain a handle on a 200-year war between Texas and pathogens, led to a second-in-the-state, $300 Caldwell Essay Award in the upper division. Perez won the single most significant Caldwell Award in our college鈥檚 history in the sense that it was a solid intervarsity victory, against university juniors and seniors ().鈥&苍产蝉辫;
She had a number of other extraordinary attainments in her 2022-2023 year at 葫芦娃视频.
Perez was the winner of two $100 Eckman Awards, having the highest seminar average in both of the two, learning communities of Honors Northeast for first-year students. She was the winner of the $200, 2023 Dr. Charles Florio Award for academic leadership. She was the only student at 葫芦娃视频 last year, and perhaps in the college鈥檚 history, to make nationals in two different fields. This November, Perez will present her work on the Texas struggle with microbes in Chicago at the meeting of the National Collegiate Honors Council. She also qualified to present work in Orlando through TAFE, the Texas Association of Future Educators, designing a poster involving the teaching of the circulation system.
Perez is looking forward to her second year at 葫芦娃视频. She will serve as vice president of Psi Beta, 葫芦娃视频鈥檚 chapter of the national collegiate association of psychology, and will be 葫芦娃视频鈥檚 candidate for student representative of the Great Plains Honors Council. She aspires to be a dentist. She took two General Chemistry courses at 葫芦娃视频 this past summer, and is looking forward to courses in Organic Chemistry with Dr. Murphy in 2023-24.
Neida is the daughter of Luciano and Ana Perez. The family resides on the Camp County border with Titus, and Perez was a graduate of Mount Pleasant High School.
