After the six finalists for USC’s woman of the year award were announced last week, one thing was clear: girls rule.
To be eligible for initial consideration, nominees were required to have a GPA of 3.0 or better and at least 60 credit hours. Academic awards, campus involvement, community involvement and contributions to USC and other women were also considered.
The six women chosen selected as finalists range from third to fourth-year students and hail from South Carolina, North Carolina and Pennsylvania.
Each of the finalists differs from her fellow ladies in terms of majors, activities and backgrounds, but all six said they were surprised to find out they had been selected as a finalist.
Leila Heidari, a fourth-year health student, was particularly honored to be nominated and selected as one of the six finalists after she watched several of her role models go through the same process in previous years.
“During my time as an undergrad, I’ve really looked up to the women who have been nominated in the past,” Heidari said. “It means a lot to be considered now in the same category as my role models.”
For fourth-year finance student Priyanka Juneja, starting her organization at USC, Girls for Tomorrow, was not only a personal achievement, but also the start to what she hopes will be a long-lasting legacy.
“Last semester, I realized this is a legacy that I’m leaving behind at USC and I was kind of ecstatic that the hard work I put in the past few years was being recognized,” Juneja said. “It’s always a great thing to be recognized for something you’ve been working hard on.”
Over the last year, Catherine Davenport has seen hardships and heartbreak after her father died last year. But when the third-year English student turned to the USC community, she found how supportive her “Carolina family” was.
“It’s been an amazing year that started out so terribly with so much heartbreak,” Davenport said. “But through that heartbreak, I learned that this is such an incredible place.”
As far as fourth-year biomedical engineering student Kathryn Kingsmore knows, she wouldn’t be where she is today without the help of those who believed in her. So now, she’s taking the time to thanks them by putting others first.
“I just try to love other people and put them above myself,” Kingsmore said. “I really just believe in forming meaningful relationships with other people.”
After being close friends with the last two women of the year, third-year public relations student Alli Finkelston she knew she was in the company of five very accomplished women. And she credits her spot as a finalist to her involvement on campus.
“I like to encourage service and I want to inspire others to do the same,” Finkelston said. “If winning would promote some of the awesome organizations that I’m a part of, that would be great.”
And for fourth-year exercise science student Emily Learner, being selected as a finalist out of what she called “a great pool of women” was a testament to her own service work.
“I try to do a lot to give back in service to both the USC community and the Greater Columbia community,” Learner said. “I try to be a role model by just being myself.”
All six finalists will be recognized Wednesday at the annual Outstanding Women at USC Celebration, where the 2014 USC Outstanding Woman of the Year will be announced.