Former VGCC student honored with Scholarship
For Lynn Conlee of Norlina, Vance-Granville Community College is the place where her career aspirations expanded, and it has been a springboard to more academic success. The former VGCC student was recently awarded a scholarship for future educators by East Carolina University.
Conlee was first inspired to go to VGCC after volunteering for her daughter’s first-grade class. “I enjoyed helping the children so much that I wanted to make it a career,” Conlee recalled. She enrolled in the college’s School-Age Education program with the goal of becoming a teacher’s assistant. First, however, she had to make it through a developmental math course. “When I was in high school, math was my strongest subject,” Conlee said. “Entering college 27 years after my high school graduation, math had become my biggest fear. Not using the skill for so long, I had lost much of the knowledge.” Because of her instructor, VGCC Developmental Studies program head Rene Alston-Thompson, Conlee not only regained confidence and enjoyed math, but also completely changed her goals. Alston-Thompson overheard Conlee helping a student one day and asked her if she wanted to be a tutor in the VGCC Academic Skills Center the next semester. Conlee was thrilled by Alston-Thompson’s encouragement. “After all, I wanted to be a teacher’s assistant, and this was a good step toward that goal,” Conlee said. “Consequently, I started asking myself what I really wanted to do after my college education, and I realized I wanted to be not an assistant, but the teacher — a math teacher!” She changed her major to College Transfer and started looking at universities. She attended a VGCC symposium for future educators and learned more about how to accomplish her goals. “That night, my career path became my personal yellow brick road, with the Oz of math teaching at the end,” Conlee said. Conlee continued to excel in the classroom. She was one of the college’s nominees for the 2009 All-USA Academic Team and was awarded a VGCC endowed scholarship, the Glen Raven, Inc. Presidential Scholar Award.
Conlee transferred to East Carolina University through Wachovia Partnership East , a program that helps N.C. community college students complete four-year degrees at ECU’s College of Education. She currently takes online ECU courses while still finishing up her requirements at VGCC. Recently, Conlee was awarded the $5,000 Eloise Faison Teacher Scholarship, which is presented to ECU students who desire to work as classroom teachers. “VGCC has been a great beginning for me, and the teachers have always been very supportive,” Conlee said. “Attending VGCC has been a rewarding experience that has helped me gain the required skills for a successful experience at the university level. In May of 2012, I will graduate with a B.S. degree in Middle Grade Education with concentrations in Math and English.”
Above: From left, Lynn Conlee and Julianne Mehegan, the sponsor of the Eloise Faison Teacher Scholarship. Mehegan established the scholarship in memory of her mother, who taught school for 40 years.
