Honors Inter/Disciplinary Awards: 2025-2026
At the close of each academic year, Honors faculty discuss the academic accomplishments of our students and select one individual within each of our primary areas of study for special recognition. All awardees are nominated by multiple faculty members who they have taken Honors classes with for distinguishing themselves through the excellence of their work, either within their declared pre-major, through completion of a concentration, or through completing multiple Honors classes related to the fields of study that they were nominated for awards in.
Honors Student of the Year, and Honors Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Awards: Winter Howell
Winter Howell completed the Honors Scholar Designation with twenty-four credits in Honors classes, including one Honors Learning Community. She served as the Vice President of the Honors Student Organization for the 2025-2026 academic year. Honors Faculty said Winter “excelled” in multiple Honors courses and described how she “clearly has an impact [in her classes] on both her instructors and her fellow students”. Honors Faculty further described Winter as “strongly engaged with the [course] content surrounding gender, sex, and sexuality” and “rigorous in her analysis of the cultural constructions of both sexuality and gender” and that Winter has “… a clear passion for working against gender inequity and sexuality-based discrimination”. Other Honors Faculty noted how Winter presented her own original research at a conference at Oakton (that she also helped co-plan) and “…demonstrate[ed] both intellectual initiative and a strong commitment to academic excellence”. Honors Faculty further stated that “[Winter’s] ability to engage deeply with complex historical questions while also contributing meaningfully to a collaborative scholarly event speaks to her maturity, leadership, and dedication.”
Honors Coursework: PHL106/BIO109 Honors Social and Political Philosophy and Honors Plants and Society (Learning Community); ANT102 Honors Intro. to Social and Cultural Anthropology; SPE103 Honors Effective Speech; CHI101 and CHI102 Honors Beginning and Intermediate Chinese; EAS102 Honors Historical Geology.
Honors Writing Intensive Award: Angie Guercio
Angie Guercio completed the Honors Scholar Designation with nineteen credits in Honors classes, including one Honors Learning Community. Honors Faculty described Angie’s written work as “very strong” across multiple classes, and described how she has taken a course load that “require[s] a lot of writing” while being “very invested in the developing of her writing, and hold[ing] herself to a high standard”. Honors Faculty described Angie as a student who “…tries to engage with [different types of] texts with openness and insight” who they have enjoyed their discussions with both inside and outside of the classroom. Honors Faculty further described how even when taking on classes with a great amount of writing “…Angie always produces something that is insightful and carefully considered. She holds herself to a very high standard, but at the same time she is very receptive to feedback and revises her assignments effectively.”
Honors Coursework: EGL137/HUM122 Honors Introduction to Asian American Literature with Honors Contemporary Culture and the Arts (Learning Community); PHL205 Honors World Religions; SPE103 Honors Effective Speech; MAT140 Honors College Algebra; MKT275 Honors Social Media Marketing.
Honors Humanities Award: Aminata Sow
Aminata Sow received the Honors Scholarship on coming to Oakton and has completed twelve credits in Honors classes in her first year at Oakton, including one Honors Learning Community. Honors Faculty described Aminata as “a thoughtful student and a strong writer” who “always has something interesting and thoughtful to contribute to discussion”. Honors Faculty further described how Aminata “…pays close attention to the ways in which works of art explore the complexities of humanity, history, and politics—-and she's not afraid to voice her perspective” and that in class discussions, Aminata “…always contributes something nuanced and thought-provoking”.
Honors Coursework: EGL137/HUM122 Honors Intro. to Asian American Literature with Honors Contemporary Culture and the Arts (Learning Community); ANT102 Honors Intro to Social and Cultural Anthropology; HUM123 Honors Intro. to Art.
Honors Philosophy Award and Honors Global Studies Award: Sydney Kreiman
Sydney Kreiman completed the Honors Scholar Designation in her first year at Oakton with nineteen credits in Honors classes, including one Honors Learning Community. Honors Faculty described Sydney as “one of the brightest and most promising students [they] have taught”, further stating “her writing and research abilities are very impressive, and she works hard to get things right in terms of both. She’s very responsive to feedback and guidance, while also not requiring a lot”. Honors Faculty also related “I always enjoyed my conversations with her and seeing her progress on her projects”. Other Honors Faculty commented that Sydney is an interdisciplinary thinker who does great work “mak[ing] interesting and relevant connections to material” from across different disciplines like Philosophy and Biology, and “figuring out how individual ethical choices can impact truly global systems”. Two projects that Sydney wrote in an Honors class were profiles about local religious communities with rich global ties that were published on chicagoreligions.com.
Honors Coursework: BIO103/PHL160 Honors A Survey of Ecology with Honors Social and Political Philosophy (Learning Community); EGL102 Honors Composition II; ANT103 Honors Intro. to Archaeology; PHL205 Honors World Religions; MAT131: Honors Elementary Statistics.
Honors English Award: Ben Lowenthal
Ben Lowenthal completed eleven credits in Honors classes during his first year at Oakton. Honors faculty described Ben as “a diligent and compassionate student” who gave multiple in-class presentations that “…were well-researched and stellar, with enthusiastic delivery that showed an in-depth knowledge of the content of the work”. Another Honors Faculty Member described Ben as “a diligent student” who has “a good grasp of [the writing] process” and shows “…evidence of substantive change in his drafts”. Honors Faculty further described how “…on various occasions, I watched Ben befriend and work with students who were struggling with the work, gently affirming their work by proffering pointers and suggestions that would help bring out the best in them, while still helping to maintain their dignity”. They further affirmed Ben’s “…dedication to self and others” along with the quality of his work as making him worthy of the Honor English award.
Honors Coursework: EGL101 Honors Composition I; EGL102 Honors Composition II; MAT250 Honors Calculus.
Honors Public Intellectual Award: Helia Mokarrami
Helia Mokarrami completed the Honors Scholar Designation in one year with twenty credits in Honors classes, including one Honors Independent Study. Honors faculty discussed Helia’s “tremendous growth” in one year at Oakton and “passion for [her] field of study”. The work Helia completed in an Honors class earned her a spot leading her own full-length session during International Education Week called “Finding 'Home' - A Journey of Belonging, Strength, and Resilience”. She was also a presenter on an International Women’s Day panel in March 2026. Helia also completed an Honors Independent Study focused on the Study of Business Practices in the Age of Technological Advancement, with her research focused on the impact of A.I. on the field of Accounting, for which she interviewed professors and professionals in the field to seek answers to her research questions. She presented this project both for a professional Accounting organization and at the 2026 Student Scholar Showcase and Academic Concentration Awards. Helia was also recognized by the Honors Program with the Graff-Stacewicz Public Intellectuals Scholarship.
Honors Coursework: EGL200 Honors Independent Study: The Study of Business in the Age of Technological Advancement; ECO202 Honors Principles of Microeconomics; Honors EGL101 Honors Composition I; EGL102 Honors Composition II; SPE103 Honors Effective Speech; ACC153 HOnors Principles of Financial Accounting.
Honors S.T.E.M. Award: Andrew Atto
Andrew Atto completed the Honors Interdisciplinary Lab. Honors Faculty stated that Andrew has completed “careful and thoughtful work” across his many S.T.E.M. courses and that he “brings together all of the qualities that make for a good S.T.E.M. practitioner: intellect, curiosity, ambition, and humility”, and that Andrew “stands out in a crowd for embodying all of these qualities together”. Faculty described Andrew’s independent research in the Interdisciplinary Lab as “nothing short of stellar” and described how he “has worked closely with faculty to develop and progressively refine his project, constantly reading and researching the literature to guide his decisions” and that Andrew “has proven himself to be not just a student, but a true scholar [who] served as a leader and model for the entire class in the process”.
Honors Coursework: BIO240 Honors Interdisciplinary Undergraduate Lab Research.
Honors Environmental Studies Concentration Award: Melani Heredia
Melani Heredia completed the Honors Scholar Designation with nineteen credits in Honors classes, including one Honors Learning Community. Honors Faculty described Melani as “a valued member of [the] Honors Learning Community” who “worked hard to interpret the texts assigned” and “has made many good connections” between the two diverse interdisciplinary sides of the Learning Community. Honors Faculty also pointed to Melani’s spirit of teamwork and growth as a student as making her deserving of the Honors Environmental Studies Concentration Award. Other faculty who recommended Melani for the award said, “she does a good job of connecting theoretical and empirical arguments in political ecology to current events, and tracing out the implications of those views in real-world circumstances”.
Honors Coursework: BIO115/HUM142 Honors Animals and Society with Honors Women and Creativity (Learning Community); BIO103/PHL160 Honors A Survey of Ecology with Honors Social and Political Philosophy (Learning Community); PSY211 Honors Child Psychology; SOC101 Honors Intro. to Sociology.
Honors Peace and Social Justice Studies Concentration Award: Megan Tsvetkova
Megan Tsvetkova completed the Honors Scholar Designation with twenty-two credits in Honors classes, including one Honors Learning Community. Honors Faculty described Megan as “a great student that always goes above and beyond in the classroom and in all her academic work” who has “demonstrated the ability to apply the material learned in class to real life experiences” and has “a great understanding of social justice and global issues”. Honors Faculty further described how Megan “…is always interested in learning more about the material and about the topics from class” and looking “…at the topics [in a class] from different angles and lenses using a multi-disciplinary approach”. Other faculty who recommended Megan for the award described her “inquisitive approach to making sense of the ideas and texts in front of her”, which “…leads her to make astute and creative observations, particularly when it comes to issues relevant to the topics studied within a peace and social justice curriculum”.
Honors Coursework: BIO109/PHL106 Honors Plants and Society with Honors Ethics (Learning Community); SOC101 Honors Intro. to Sociology (with Service Learning Project); MAT131 Honors Elementary Statistics; PHL160 Honors Social and Political Philosophy; ANT102 Honors Intro. to Social and Cultural Anthropology; SSC201 Honors Intro. to Global Studies.
Honors Social and Behavioral Sciences Award: Brian Garland
Brian Garland completed the Honors Scholar Designation with eighteen credits in Honors classes, including one Honors Learning Community. Honors Faculty described Brian’s Honors Projects as “exemplify[ing] the highest standards of work within Oakton College’s Honors Program”, within which he “demonstrated exceptional historical analysis, combining rigorous engagement with primary and secondary sources with a clear ability to construct nuanced, original arguments”. Honors Faculty further described how Brian’s Honors Projects “…reflect sustained critical thinking, careful organization, and a sophisticated command of historical writing that exceeds typical undergraduate expectations”, and stated that Brian’s work “…represents not only excellence in historical research and writing, but also the curiosity, discipline, and intellectual maturity that this [Honors Social and Behavioral Sciences] award is meant to recognize”.
Honors Coursework: EGL129/HUM124 Honors Intro. to Literature with Honors African-American Culture and the Arts (Learning Community); HIS112 Honors United States History from 1877; HIS113 Honors History of Native Americans; HUM140 Honors Intro. to Women’s and Gender Studies; PHL180 Honors Medical Ethics.