SPECIAL RECOGNITIONS
Shannon Griffiths: Honors Student Shannon Griffiths (BSW ’16) came to UGA because she “wanted a school where I would learn outside of the classroom as much as I did inside of one,” and she has taken good advantage of all those opportunities. She’s been active in UGA Miracle, volunteered at Mercy Health Center, and helped to reestablish a campus chapter of the Phi Alpha Honor Society for Social Work. In addition, she tutored English as a second language at an elementary school and completed a Spanish minor at UGA’s campus in Costa Rica. Through a social work class, Griffiths also mentored a high school student in foster care. It provided “an extremely influential experience,” she said. Through UGA’s Center for Undergraduate Research, and with mentoring by Assistant Professor Mary Caplan, Griffiths also engaged in research with fellow undergraduate Brittany Talkin. This spring the pair presented the results of their qualitative study “Women, Welfare and Borrowing” at CURO’s annual student research symposium. Despite a full schedule and health issues within her family, Griffiths maintained a 4.0 grade point average, earning her recognition as a Presidential Scholar and the UGA Presidential Award of Excellence. The latter honor is awarded to less than one percent of undergraduate students in their final year of study. Griffiths also was named 2016 BSW Student of the Year. Several scholarships helped: the Zell Miller Scholarship, the UGA Charter Scholarship and the Heather Christina Wright Memorial Undergraduate Scholarship. The latter came at a particularly good time. “The Wright’s generosity has meant so much to my family and me,” said Griffiths. “You can ask the clerk at the Bursar’s Office who watched me dance as I learned I had been awarded this scholarship!” This fall Griffiths will head back to the school to begin her first year as a graduate student. She plans to pursue a career in medical social work. Shannon Griffiths presents research at the 2016 CURO Symposium.
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University of Georgia School of Social Work