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Featured Alumni
At the VSU Honors College we're exceptionally proud of our students. Each semester we'll feature one of our alumni, showcasing their achievements after graduation.
The Fall 2012 Featured Alum is...Jake Newsome!
W. Jake Newsome
Class of 2009
Jake graduated Summa Cum Laude from VSU in fall 2009, earning his bachelor’s in History, while minoring in International Studies and German. During his time at VSU, Jake was very active in the Honors Program, for which he was awarded the Hugh C. Bailey Family Scholarship. Jake’s research received many awards, including: the William Bartram Award for Intellectual Exploration, the College of Arts & Sciences Best Paper Award for 2009, as well as the statewide Georgia Consortium for International Studies Student Prize for Excellence in International Studies. Jake was also a contributing author to the inaugural edition of Omnino, VSU’s new academic journal. He also understands the importance of literally broadening your horizons, and participated in three study abroad programs while he was at VSU, including a one-year ISEP academic exchange to Philipps-Universität in Marburg, Germany.
Newsome currently lives in Buffalo, New York, and working towards his Ph.D. in History at the State University of New York at Buffalo. He works as a teaching assistant for World History classes, and has also received multiple fellowships to help fund his research into the interactions between history and personal memory.
Newsome remembers the Honors Program fondly and states: “Most of my best memories of VSU involve the Honors Program. Academically, the smaller seminars taught you how to work with both peers and professors, how to give and receive helpful criticism, and how to think outside your own box. These are necessary attributes for a graduate student and team worker, and I know that the Honors professors prepared me for grad school. But it was also fantastic to be around other students who wanted to push the boundaries of their college education, and hanging out with them for movie nights at the Honors House made for some good memories.”
Previous Featured Alumni:
Katheryn Klimko- Summer, 2012