Mylee Madrazo and Marina Beam win statewide Student Leadership Scholarships;
Danielle Mar named GWC’s R. Dudley Boyce Outstanding Student of the Year
Huntington Beach, CA – July 1, 2021 – Two former students who served on the Associated Students of Golden West College (ASGWC) Executive Student Council have won prestigious statewide awards for their leadership.
Mylee Madrazo and Marina Beam won California Community College Student Affairs Association (CCCSAA) Student Leadership Scholarships.
Only 10 students statewide were selected for the honor — five from Northern California and five from Southern California. GWC was the only college in the Coast Community College district to have CCCSAA Student Leadership Scholarship winners.
Meanwhile, Danielle Mar won the R. Dudley Boyce Outstanding Student of the Year award, which the Associated Students gives out every year in memory of Golden West College’s first president. Among the requirements for being considered for the award are demonstrating several leadership qualities, such as vision, organization, communication, action, and empathy at GWC and/or in the community.
Campus Life nominated Beam and Madrazo for the CCCSAA scholarship award. They each will receive $500.
“We’re so incredibly proud of Marina, Mylee, and Danielle,” said Frank Cirioni, director of Campus Life and college disciplinary officer. “ They are all so deserving of this recognition and scholarship awards.”
Beam and Mar also received the prestigious Kathleen D. Loly scholarship for outstanding academics. The scholarship is awarded exclusively to members of Alpha Gamma Sigma (AGS) Honor Society.
In her 2021 Commencement speech, Mar, who served as student body president this past year, said when she started at GWC, she had little direction.
“Being a part of this GWC family has changed my life and who I am as a person in the best way possible,” Mar said.
Beam served as president of the AGS Honor Society for the Fall 2020 and Spring 2021 semester, as well as vice president of public relations for ASGWC.
“Serving in student government on the Executive Student Council allows me to be an advocate for the students,” Beam wrote in her student leadership statement. “Since involvement has had an important impact on my experience as a student, I want to inspire students to do the same.”
She added: “I am truly thankful for all the opportunities and support Golden West College has given to me. I am grateful for the welcoming campus community, faculty and staff that are committed to the success of their students.”
In a letter of recommendation to the CCCSAA Student Leadership Scholarship Selection Committee, Cirioni detailed Madrazo’s many accomplishments, including serving as vice president of student advocacy for ASGWC.
“Mylee is an intelligent, hard-working, and accomplished student leader,” Cirioni wrote. “I have no doubt that Mylee will leave a legacy at Golden West College and in the State of California.”
In her student leadership statement, Madrazo recalled a journal entry she wrote on April 28, 2019.
“I expressed, ‘I cannot wait for a new start,’” Madrazo wrote. “Little did I know that months later, my new start at Golden West College would mark a new hope of who I could be to my school, community, and eventually the world.
Attached: GWC Student Awards [PDF]
