Some might say that Shelley Brooks and Samantha Nagy, both of Leesburg, are over achievers, and they would be correct. On Thursday, May 7, both Brooks and Nagy graduated from Darton State College with a 4.0 GPA and a long resume of academic achievements.  

Combined they have won more than 15 awards and are involved in more than eight campus organizations; including the honors program, an orientation leader, writing center tutor, and the International honor society Phi Theta Kappa.  Recently Brooks and Nagy placed nationally in the English honor society Sigma Kappa Delta’s writing contest - competing against students from 120 different chapters across the U.S.  

Nagy won second place in the essay writing contest for her piece titled “Why Write,” and Brooks placed third in literary analysis writing for an essay she wrote in her English 1102 class titled “Morality: An Issue in all Ages.” Their winning essays will be published in the national literary journal, Hedera helix. 

“The Humanities Division, English Department, and Pi Delta Chapter of Sigma Kappa Delta are all very proud of Shelley [Brooks] and Samantha [Nagy]. They are our chapter’s fourth and fifth national award winners, and the work they submitted was of tremendous scholarship. Samantha and Shelley are superb writers, thinkers, and researchers, and this award is simply recognition of the culmination of all of their academic efforts at Darton State,” said Elizabeth Perkins, dean of humanities.

Brooks and Nagy did not know each other before Darton. Brooks, a 2014 graduate from the homeschool program, started taking classes at the College her senior year through the ACCEL program, and Nagy is a 2013 graduate of Lee County High. But, over the last couple of years they have become close friends. Not only were they involved in many of the same clubs and organizations, but both will graduate from Darton State College with an associate’s degree in liberal arts.

“Darton was a great place to start my higher education. I have met so many wonderful people. I really enjoyed the small class sizes, which made it easy to get to know my professors. I always felt like they [professors] had my back,” said Nagy.

“My time at Darton has flown by - I have really enjoyed it! The past two years have involved a lot of studying, but I have made many memories of great fun along the way,” said Brooks.

When asked who has made the biggest impact on them while at Darton, the soon-to-be-graduates both said Elizabeth Perkins, dean of humanities and associate professor of English.

“You can really tell that Mrs. Perkins loves her job. She values her students and always makes time for us no matter how busy she might be,” said Brooks. “She encourages her students and pushes you to always be better,” replied Nagy.