Sarah Wood

Sarah Wood of Snow Hill, an honors student at Wor-Wic Community College, is this year’s $500 faculty honors scholarship winner.

Selection is based on scholastic achievement and an essay competition judged by the honors program committee. Applicants were required to write a four-page research-based argumentative essay on bridging the socioeconomic divide in academic achievement. Wood’s award-winning essay argued that programs and initiatives to target low-income students are a short-term solution and that “we need to bridge the socioeconomic divide itself as a long-term solution.”

Wood, a straight-A student at Wor-Wic, says she was drawn to the honors program because it seemed more rigorous and she thought it would better prepare her to transfer to a four-year institution. She said she appreciates the advising and mentoring of the honors faculty, especially Melissa Reddish, assistant professor of English and director of the honors program.

“The curriculum in all of the honors classes is interwoven,” Wood said. “Making the connections and thinking across disciplines has been very beneficial to me.”

Wood plans to transfer to the University of Maryland College Park to major in journalism and sociology, as well as to participate in the Arabic flagship program there. She would like to continue on to graduate school and then see where her future takes her.