Congratulations to Honors Scholar Designation Completers, Honors Awardees, and Graduates!
A great big congratulations to all of our Honors Awardees, all completers of the Honors Scholar Degree Designation (Designees), and all Graduates and Transfer Students who have taken Honors classes at Oakton in the last few years!
Below is the list of Honors Scholar Designation completers and Honors Award Winners by discipline for 2025-2026. You can read more about all of them in the Honors Student Showcase.
Maryam Al Zandawi — Completed 19 credits in Honors classes, including 1 Honors Independent Study.
Erin-Jeanelle Balacy — Completed 22 credits in Honors classes, including the Honors Interdisciplinary Lab. She will be transferring to the University of Illinois at Chicago.
David Carrillo — Completed 18 credits in Honors classes, including 1 Honors Learning Community. He plans to continue studying Accounting, probably at Depaul University.
Sara Condon — Completed 19 credits in Honors classes, including 1 Honors Learning Community. She plans to transfer to Illinois State University to study Elementary Education.
Brian Garland — Completed 18 credits in Honors classes, including 1 Honors Learning Community. He plans to transfer to Texas State University to pursue a Bachelor’s degree in Exercise Science.
Angie Guercio — Completed 19 credits in Honors classes, including 1 Honors Learning Community. She plans to transfer to a four year University to study Digital Marketing and Graphic Design.
Melani Heredia — Completed 19 credits in Honors classes, including 2 Honors Learning Communities. She plans to transfer to University of Illinois Chicago or University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign to pursue a bachelor’s degree in Psychology.
Winter Howell — Completed 24 credits in Honors classes, including 1 Honors Learning Community. She served as the Vice President of the Honors Student Organization. She plans to transfer to a four year university to study Earth and Planetary Sciences.
Sydney Kreiman — Completed 19 credits in Honors classes, including 1 Honors Learning Community, all within one year. She will be continuing at Oakton next year and then plans to transfer to a four year University and study Archaeology.
Helia Mokarrami — Completed 20 credits in Honors classes, including 1 Honors Learning Community, all within one year. She received the Graff-Stacewicz Public Intellectuals Scholarship. She plans to transfer to a four year university to study Accounting and then become a CPA.
Olivia Montecchi — Completed 18 credits in Honors classes, including 1 Honors Learning Community. She plans to transfer to the Honors Program at Northeastern Illinois University pursuing the accelerated Bachelors/Masters track in Biology.
Mikaela Montesclaros — Completed 18 credits in Honors classes, including 1 Honors Learning Community. She plans to continue at Oakton next year and then transfer to a four year university to study Political Science and Economics.
Sebastian Otero — Completed 19 credits in Honors classes, including 1 Honors Learning Community. He plans to transfer to Northwestern University School of Professional Studies and eventually go to Law school.
Noah Rosenberg — Completed 18 credits in Honors classes, including 1 Honors Learning Community. He was the recipient of the Honors English Award last year.
Dominika Sass — Completed 18 credits in Honors classes, including 1 Honors Learning Community. She served as the President of the Honors Student Organization. She plans to enter the workforce, with the possibility of continuing her education in the future.
Natalia Tolaba — Completed 22 credits in Honors classes, including 1 Honors Learning Community. She also completed a RICE Center Fellowship. She plans to transfer to a four year university to study Marketing.
Megan Tsvetkova — Completed 22 credits in Honors classes, including 1 Honors Learning Community. She plans to transfer to a four year university to pursue Psychology and Neuroscience.
Honors Disciplinary Awards and Scholarships 2025-2026:
The following students were awarded discipline-specific awards by nomination of the faculty of Oakton’s Honors Program. Please follow the link above to read more about their accomplishments. Many have also submitted Honors coursework to our Student Projects Showcase.
Honor Peace and Social Justice Studies Award — Megan Tsvetkova
Honors Environmental Studies Concentration Award — Melani Heredia
Honors Social and Behavioral Sciences Award — Brian Garland
Honors Philosophy Award, and Honors Global Studies Award — Sydney Kreiman
Honors Writing Intensive Concentration Award — Angie Guercio
Honors Humanities Award — Aminata Sow
Honors Public Intellectual Award — Helia Mokarrami
Honors English Award — Ben Lowenthal
Honors S.T.E.M. Award — Andrew Atto
Honors Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Award, and Honors Student of the Year Award— Winter Howell
Lake Forest College Oakton Full Tuition Scholarship: Amelia Grzywacz (2025 Honors Designee)
All photos by Oakton Distinguished Professor of Biology Paul Gulezian (thanks so much Prof. Gulezian!)
Students in the Honors Program in 2025-2026 shared the following projects completed in Honors classes:
Erin Balacy: “Holy Taxiarhai and Saint Haralambos Orthodox Church, Niles”, from Honors World Religions with Prof Townsend.
Winter Howell: “Archaeopteryx: A Vital Piece of the Evolutionary Puzzle”, from Honors Historical Geology with Prof. Wiersma.
Charlie Lauritson: “Humanity Surrendered” (poem), from Honors U.S. History from 1877 with Prof. Adele-Marie.
Helia Mokarrami: “Finding ‘Home’: A Journey of Belonging, Strength, and Resilience”, from Honors Comosition I with Dr. Adenekan.
Olivia Montecchi: “I Never Saw Another Butterfly” (musical performance), from Honors History of the Holocaust with Dr. Adele-Marie.
Mikaela Montescarlos: “Japanese American Resettlement and the Redress Movement”, from Honors U.S. History from 1877 with Prof. Adele-Marie.
Sydney Kreiman: Two Religious Site Profiles, from Honors World Religions, with Prof. Townsend.
Sebastian Otero: “Ici on noie les Algériens: How Colonialism Comes Home to Roost in a Democracy”, from Honors Topics in Philosophy with Prof. Briones.
Dominika Sass: “Investing in International Students at Oakton College”, from Honors Composition II with Dr. Braud.
