During the Award Ceremony, the excitement in the room was palpable. Over 100 fellow students, friends, family and professionals helped summer graduates celebrate the end of their college journey. Nossi College honored students in seven categories to highlight the creative artists who worked the hardest this summer and supported other students to be successful.
Cheers boomed from the audience in Studio A as names were read and winners were announced. To qualify for an award, a student must be nominated by a Nossi College faculty member. The student with the most nominations gets the award and their picture taken with Founder and CEO, Nossi Vatandoost. The top award, Talent Discovery, also comes with a $400 cash prize.
“It is always a great feeling when we have a great turnout, but it never surprises me,” said Dax Gomez, Career Services Director at Nossi College. “This group of seniors worked hard and are very talented. On top of family members and faculty, we always have industry professionals attend hoping to flush out their next great employee.”
The following students won awards for the 2015 summer semester:
Mary Ann Hewitt and Michael Truitt won Class Participation, an award designed to students who show an extra interest in class and encourage student interaction.
Amber Thomas won Most Improved, an award given to students showing remarkable improvement in the quality of their work from the previous semester.
Nicole Drake and Landon Matney won Most Creative, a highly coveted award in this creative college.
Dusty Draper and Cory Harkins won the Amabassador award for being active on campus, exemplifying the Nossi ‘spirit’ and having high academics.
Andrew Brooks (Interactive Graphic Design), Sydney Cusack (Photography), Vickie Lee (Illustration), Landon Matney (Graphic Design) and Bets Wilson (Bachelor in Photography) took home the Academic All Star award for having the highest GPA in their degree program for the semester.
Margaret Barnes, Katherine Seghers and Meliz Yilmaz received the Excellent Student award for being active in class, having high academics and has a positive attitude about being a college student.
Bets Wilson and Vickie Lee won Talent Discovery – the biggest award going to graduating seniors highlights the best of the best throughout a student’s career at Nossi College. In addition to this honor, each student also receives a $400 cash prize.
The day after the Semester Awards, Gomez hosts a Mock Interview day so students can understand the fine art of the interview process, showcase their portfolios to industry professionals and after positive first impressions, some land their first job. This year, 18 professionals attended our Mock Interviews for graduating seniors.
“Mock interviews get Nossi seniors practice and a boost of self confidence right before graduation,” said Gomez. “It’s only been a couple of days, but so far over half of the participating seniors have been offered a job, given an application or have a follow-up or on-site interview scheduled with one of the participation companies. It’s a win-win, as the students gain professional development skills and even job offers, and the companies can fulfill recruiting needs.”
(Click here for the full gallery of image by Michelle Donovan)
Special thanks to the following businesses for participating: Snapshot Interactive, CHPhoto, Rough Hollow Entertainment, The Creative Group, T.N.T Design, Knapptime Creative, Martin O’Connor Photography, Shoe Metro, , CRT Custom Product Inc, Riley & You, Moments by Moser, House Lens and Katy’s Hallmark. The success of this day would not be possible without the help and support of such great companies. If you are a company needing creative help, consider contacting Dax Gomez to be part of our Mock Interview. @JobNewsFlash or DGomez@nossi.edu