Student Success Recognized Through “Quest for the Best”

Scholarship, one part of SDSU’s educational mission, goes hand-in-hand with the promotion and development of leadership skills and community service. Under the theme of “Quest for the Best,” the vice presidential student service awards are given each spring to up to 10 outstanding students who typify and promote this broader mission of the university.

Applications for these prestigious awards are available from the Office of New Student and Parent Programs during February each year. A panel of faculty, staff, and past student recipients interview the finalists and make their selections based on academic excellence, student involvement and commitment, community service outside the SDSU campus, and leadership qualities and development that reflect initiative, advancement of intercultural understanding, and evidence of positive, ethical decision-making styles.

Each student awarded the Quest for the Best honor nominates the SDSU professor or mentor who has made the most significant contribution to his or her personal growth. Both student and professor are honored at an elegant banquet held each April.

This year’s Quest for the Best winners, selected from junior, senior and graduate applicants, have been involved in diverse activities on and off campus. From leadership roles in the student-run newspaper to various honor societies, these students give their time and talents to the campus and community.

This year’s Quest for the Best recipients are:

Jerome Budomo
Liberal Studies major

Faculty/Staff Mentor:
Salvador Flor
Educational Opportunity Program

Betty Crawford
Psychology major

Faculty/Staff Mentor:
Estralita Martin
College of Sciences

Paul A. Escajadillo
Political Science major

Faculty/Staff Mentor:
Farid Abdel-Nour
Political Science

Rodney Gabriel
Cell and Molecular Biology major

Faculty/Staff Mentor:
Thelma Chavez
College of Sciences

Christopher Garcia
Kinesiology major

Faculty/Staff Mentor:
Fred Kolkhorst
Exercise and Nutritional Sciences

Augustus Gatto
Finance major

Faculty/Staff Mentor:
Allan Zebedee
Finance

Hilary Hartley
Spanish/Political Science major

Faculty/Staff Mentor:
Janet Castro
New Student and Parent Programs

Joanne Imus
Nursing major

Faculty/Staff Mentor:
Richard Reed
College of Health and Human Services

Van Nguyen
Physics major

Faculty/Staff Mentor:
Calvin Johnson
Physics

Isabel O’Donnell
Sociology major

Faculty/Staff Mentor:
Beth Crawford
Educational Opportunity Program

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