Two Skyline College Students, each Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society members, have earned All-California Scholarships and placement on the All-California Community College Academic Team. The selection for the All-California teams was determined by the scores nominees received from Phi Theta Kappa judges at the national level selecting winners for the national academic teams. These 60 students represent some of the best of the 2.1 million students enrolled in California’s 113 community colleges.
First-team member Vitoria Araujo Goncalves emigrated from Brazil at the age of seven. She has been a member of Phi Theta Kappa since 2014. Vitoria currently serves as a senator in the Associated Students of Skyline College. Vitoria has a passion for helping those who are English learners like her. Through Reading Partners, she has worked with numerous students to improve their reading levels. As a current student ambassador within Skyline College’s Outreach program, she publicizes to local high schools the importance of attaining an education through community college. Vitoria is majoring in Business Administration and plans to transfer to the University of California, Berkeley. Her long-term goal is to establish a sustainable manufacturing company and aid in the betterment of the textiles industry.
Second-team member Yelena Vayn is studying Biology at Skyline College. She plants to transfer to the University of California to complete her undergraduate studies. She hopes to attend medical school, and eventually, work in the medical field. At Skyline, she has been on the dean’s list every semester, and joined both Phi Theta Kappa as well as the honors program. Her second semester, she became the teaching assistant for a general biology at Skyline College. She has been volunteering and doing research at Saint Mary’s hospital. Just recently, she became an English teacher at the Eye Level Center in Belmont. Aside from academics, Yelena is a competitive ballroom/Latin dancer. In 2014, she and her partner were bronze medalists in the USA National Latin Dance Championship. She went on to represent the USA in the world Latin dance championship in Moscow, Russia. Now, she is teaching Ballroom/Latin dance to students of all ages.
Article by Christine Case
