Two outstanding women, one on the cusp of completion at Amarillo College and one who just graduated from AC in May, received special recognition and bestowals prior to the AC Board of Regents meeting on June 28.
The presentation came courtesy of Leadership Women, the nation’s longest-running women’s leadership development organization, and it was made by AC Regent Anette Carlisle as both a representative of Leadership Women and a longstanding member of Leadership Texas.
America Adame, a speech communication major now in her final semester at AC, and Linda Duong, a 2016 graduate in education, were presented with full scholarships, including transportation and accommodations, to attend Leadership Pipeline 2016.
The program, one of five offered by Leadership Women, is an emerging young women’s leadership conference Sept. 30-Oct. 1 in Dallas.
Carlisle noted that during a May visit to Amarillo by the 2016 class of Leadership Texas, its membership had an opportunity to hear each of these forthcoming AC students describe the hardships they overcame to achieve college success.
“You both did a phenomenal job, not only telling your stories but representing Amarillo College,” Carlisle told the recipients. “The Leadership Texas class of 2016 was so impressed they wanted to send you to Leadership Pipeline 2016 because they think your voices need to be in that room with the other leaders in Texas.”
Adame and Duong are both transferring their AC credits and will attend West Texas A&M University this fall.
Adame is a single mother of two young girls who works part time at AC and is presently enrolled in her final 21 credit hours at AC. Her schedule is grueling and no doubt would overwhelm others, but not Adame.
“What overwhelms me is the thought of being unsuccessful for my kids,” she said. “And this scholarship presented by Leadership Women overwhelms me, too. Attending Amarillo College is the best decision I ever made.”
Duong comes from a family of modest means, but her parents insisted she remain enrolled even when she strongly considered leaving AC to seek employment to help out at home. She stayed the course and remains on track to fulfill her dream of becoming a teacher.
“I’m so excited and thankful to receive this scholarship,” she said. “I look at this as an opportunity to learn things that will not only help me in my personal life, but knowledge that I can pass on to the students I hope one day to teach in the classroom.”
June 29, 2016