Annie Seipel of Longmont, a student at the Boulder County Campus of Front Range Community College, is Colorado’s New Century Scholar for 2014, having earned the highest All-USA Community College Academic Team application score in the state.
The award was given at the All-Colorado Academic Team luncheon in Denver. The award includes a $2,000 scholarship.
Michelle Romersheuser, also a Boulder County Campus student from Longmont, was given Silver Tier honors at the same luncheon. Her award includes a $1,250 scholarship.
Each gained membership on the 2014 All-Colorado Academic Team, which has 24 members from 12 community colleges in Colorado.
An independent team of judges reviews applications from more than 1,700 community college students in the United States, Canada, seven other foreign countries, and U.S. territories to determine scholarship recipients. The Coca-Cola New Century Scholars program is sponsored by The Coca-Cola Foundation, The Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation, the American Association of Community Colleges and Phi Theta Kappa, the international honor society for community colleges.
About Annie Seipel
Seipel has discovered “a passion for bringing people together, about recognizing the relevance of the team, and about passing on the spirit of service.”
Service starts one-on-one, individual to individual. “My brother and I grew up with a single mom, but she had a support network,” Seipel says. “I am proud to be a part of a support network for another single mom.”
No finer example of service to the community can be found than her campus leadership in the aftermath of the devastating floods in Boulder County in 2013. “I was not directly impacted,” she says, “but I knew many who were. First, I assisted a group collecting and organizing clothing and household supplies. Members of my PTK officer group were right there by my side, and it was gratifying to see their teen-age sons helping us sort clothes on a Saturday morning.”
A simple kindness also is service. “My friend, Bryan, was displaced by the floods, working two jobs, taking care of his younger brother as well as his mother who is fighting cancer, and going to school. Knowing that his family was staying in temporary quarters, I offered him my home and help to do his family’s laundry. I enjoyed the time with my friend, but more than that, I felt lucky that I could offer my time and space to him.”
Seipel plans to transfer to Colorado State University to study mineralogy and jewelry making. She has a 3.61 GPA while in pursuit of both an A.A. and an A.S. simultaneously. As Colorado’s New Century Scholar, Annie will attend the American Association of Community Colleges convention in April in Washington, D.C., where she will receive a $2,000 scholarship from the Coca-Cola Scholar’s Foundation.
About Michelle Romersheuser
Michelle Romersheuser
Homeless with two daughters, Michelle found shelter, and came to FRCC. Now she gives back:
- Coordinator of a Phi Theta Kappa fundraiser for veterans.
- Teaching cooking skills at a home for youths in crisis.
- Mentoring single mothers.
- Collecting and delivering 2,000 pounds of food and 15 truckloads of furniture for emergency assistance.
- Recycling 3,000 pounds of metal. Delivering a truckload of computer gear for refurbishing for the needy.
- Organizing the distribution of donated goods for victims of the 2013 floods in Colorado.
Oh, yes, a 3.8 GPA with plans to transfer to the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado.
About Front Range Community College
FRCC offers nearly 100 degree and certificate programs from locations in Boulder County, Larimer County, Westminster, and Brighton, and online.
FRCC is a member of the Colorado Community College System, the state’s largest system of higher education. CCCS serves more than 162,000 students annually. The system oversees career and academic programs in the 13 state community colleges and career and technical programs in more than 160 school districts and six other post-secondary institutions.
