Five Seniors Presented with Clauve Awards

Five stu­dents at the Uni­ver­sity of New Mex­ico have received Clauve Out­stand­ing Senior Awards. Megan Chat­ter­ton, Adrian Corti­nas, Sunny Liu, Flo­ren­cio Olguin Jr. and Kelly Williamson were pre­sented with the award that rec­og­nizes seniors who have per­formed well aca­d­e­m­i­cally and made sig­nif­i­cant con­tri­bu­tions to the cam­pus com­mu­nity through lead­er­ship and involvement.

“There is an undy­ing energy I find in help­ing oth­ers and that is what dri­ves me,” said Liu who is an account­ing major and plans to pur­sue higher edu­ca­tion and ulti­mately become a teacher.

All of the award win­ners are marked by a long list of hon­ors and involve­ment. “I hope to con­tinue the tra­di­tion of schol­ar­ship and ser­vice as I head into the work­force,” said Chat­ter­ton. “I would hate to be one of those peo­ple who just sit around all the time.” Chat­ter­ton is an Eng­lish major who one day hopes to be a teacher.

Williamson is no stranger to on cam­pus involve­ment. When asked what she did in her spare time, the UNM vol­ley­ball player said, “I don’t have any! I play a lot of out­door vol­ley­ball now that I am done with my indoor sea­son.” After grad­u­a­tion she plans to play pro­fes­sional vol­ley­ball in Europe and even­tu­ally enter the Peace Corps.

Through their involve­ment, the award win­ners have been able to build a strong com­mu­nity and sup­port group to help them be suc­cess­ful. In addi­tion to their involve­ment, the stu­dents have been able to main­tain a high aca­d­e­mic standard.

“I feel hon­ored to have received an award that so many other suc­cess­ful alumni have received as under­grad­u­ates at UNM,” said Olguin who plans to pur­sue a mas­ters of busi­ness admin­is­tra­tion at UNM’s Ander­son School of Management.

The Clauve Award is named for Dean Emer­i­tus Lena Clauve.

Megan Chat­ter­ton
In addi­tion to being involved with many orga­ni­za­tions on cam­pus, Megan Chat­ter­ton has been nom­i­nated for the Clauve Out­stand­ing Senior Award at UNM. The award rec­og­nizes seniors who have per­formed well aca­d­e­m­i­cally and made sig­nif­i­cant con­tri­bu­tions to the cam­pus com­mu­nity through lead­er­ship and involvement.

“I am very hon­ored to have received this award,” said Chat­ter­ton. “I am grate­ful that the uni­ver­sity has con­sid­ered me as one of its top stu­dents and hope to con­tinue the tra­di­tion of schol­ar­ship and ser­vice as I head into the workforce.”

Chat­ter­ton is a mem­ber of the Golden Key and Phi Kappa Phi honor soci­eties, has been the pres­i­dent of National Soci­ety of Col­le­giate Schol­ars, vice pres­i­dent and sec­re­tary of the Medieval stud­ies Stu­dent Asso­ci­a­tion, trea­surer of the Hob­bit Soci­ety, and sec­re­tary of the Hon­ors Stu­dent Advi­sory Coun­cil.  In addi­tion to her cam­pus involve­ment, she is a shodan, a first degree black belt, and enjoys prac­tic­ing judo, read­ing and hang­ing out with friends.

Chat­ter­ton said that her mind­set is what has allowed her to accom­plish as much as she has. “I just make sure to attend class, do my home­work in advance and make time for myself. I would hate to be one of those peo­ple who just sit around all the time,” she said.

After grad­u­at­ing in May, Chat­ter­ton plans to pur­sue a mas­ters degree in sec­ondary edu­ca­tion. She says that the lead­er­ship skill she has gained at UNM will be a great ben­e­fit to her, espe­cially in the classroom.

The 21 year old has lived in Kiowa, Colo. with her fam­ily and even­tu­ally moved to many dif­fer­ent towns in N.M. includ­ing Tularosa, Cloud­croft and Gallup where she grad­u­ated vale­dic­to­rian in 2008.

She would like to thank her par­ents Terry and Ellen Chat­ter­ton and pro­fes­sors Leslie Dono­van and Anita Ober­meier for their con­stant sup­port through­out her time at UNM.

Sunny Liu
Por­tales, N.M. native and high school grad­u­ate, Sunny Liu has been nom­i­nated for the Clauve Out­stand­ing Senior Award at the Uni­ver­sity of New Mex­ico. The award rec­og­nizes seniors who have per­formed well aca­d­e­m­i­cally and made sig­nif­i­cant con­tri­bu­tions to the cam­pus com­mu­nity through lead­er­ship and involvement.

After being offered the UNM Regents’ Schol­ar­ship, he decided to attend UNM with the goal of soak­ing up every sin­gle part of the col­lege experience.

Through­out his time at UNM, Liu has been involved in Alpha Tau Omega fra­ter­nity (ATO), Beta Alpha Psi fra­ter­nity, Inter­na­tional Busi­ness Stu­dents Global, Asso­ci­ated Stu­dents of the Uni­ver­sity of New Mex­ico (ASUNM) and Net Impact, just to name a few.

“I had been extremely involved in high school and vowed to be more selec­tive about my involve­ment in col­lege, but I sup­pose old habits die hard,” said Liu about his desire to be involved. “There is an undy­ing energy I find in help­ing oth­ers and that is what dri­ves me.”

After grad­u­at­ing in May 2013, the 21 year old account­ing major plans to pur­sue higher edu­ca­tion and ulti­mately become a teacher.

Liu said that his favorite mem­o­ries at UNM involve the stu­dent lead­ers he has met through the ASUNM Office and being a found­ing father of ATO.

Liu cred­its much of his suc­cess to his girl­friend, Lau­ren Main for help­ing him through­out many dif­fi­cult times dur­ing high school and college.

Flo­ren­cio Olguin Jr.
At a uni­ver­sity with a pop­u­la­tion of just over 20,000 full time stu­dents, Flo­ren­cio Olguin Jr. has man­aged to cre­ate a sup­port group that makes him feel like he is back in his 2,800 per­son home­town of Santa Rosa, N.M. Being well sup­ported is what has made him so successful.

Flo­ren­cio Olguin Jr. has been nom­i­nated for the Clauve Out­stand­ing Senior Award at The Uni­ver­sity of New Mex­ico. The award rec­og­nizes seniors who have per­formed well aca­d­e­m­i­cally and made sig­nif­i­cant con­tri­bu­tions to the cam­pus com­mu­nity through lead­er­ship and involvement.

Despite the fact that UNM is much larger than Santa Rosa where he grad­u­ated high school in 2008, Olguin said he has enjoyed his time at UNM very much. He said he had two goals for his col­le­giate career. He wanted to be involved with orga­ni­za­tions that would give him expe­ri­ence and hoped to set a pos­i­tive exam­ple for his younger brother, Andres Olguin. He said that work­ing towards these goals has helped him make the most out of his time at UNM.

His goals for col­lege of being a pos­i­tive role model for his younger brother, Andres, and being involved with orga­ni­za­tions that would give him expe­ri­ence have helped him make the most of his time at UNM.

“When I found out I was a recip­i­ent of the Clauve Award I was ini­tially in dis­be­lief,” said Olguin. “I feel hon­ored to have received an award that so many other suc­cess­ful alumni have received as under­grad­u­ates at UNM.”

By being involved in orga­ni­za­tions at UNM, Olguin has been able to build a sup­port sys­tem and net­work sim­i­lar to those of his fam­ily and home­town community.

After grad­u­at­ing with a dou­ble major polit­i­cal sci­ence and pub­lic rela­tions in Sum­mer 2012, the 21 year old plans to begin a mas­ters of busi­ness admin­is­tra­tion at UNM’s Ander­son School of Management.

Olguin cred­its many peo­ple in his life for help­ing him achieve his per­sonal and aca­d­e­mic goals includ­ing his par­ents, Flo­ren­cio and Roberta Olguin, grand­par­ents Berto and Julia Chavez, girl­friend Ash­leigh More and many employ­ees on cam­pus who have been men­tors to him. Rem­i­nisc­ing on his under­grad­u­ate career at UNM, Olguin said that none of it would have been pos­si­ble with­out the sup­port of these people.

Kelly Williamson
As she began her col­lege career at the Uni­ver­sity of New Mex­ico, Kelly Williamson had the high goal of being an Aca­d­e­mic All Amer­i­can for vol­ley­ball. Along with achiev­ing this and many other per­sonal and aca­d­e­mic goals, Williamson has been nom­i­nated for the Clauve Out­stand­ing Senior Award at UNM. The award rec­og­nizes seniors who have per­formed well aca­d­e­m­i­cally and made sig­nif­i­cant con­tri­bu­tions to the cam­pus com­mu­nity through lead­er­ship and involvement.

Williamson grad­u­ated from Lin­coln Inter­na­tional High School in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She decided to attend UNM after being recruited to play Vol­ley­ball there.

Vol­ley­ball has been a cen­tral part of her time at UNM. When asked what she did in her spare time, Williamson said, “I don’t have any! I play a lot of out­door vol­ley­ball now that I am done with my indoor season.”

She said her favorite col­le­giate mem­ory was com­pet­ing in the NCAA tour­na­ment with her team­mates. After grad­u­a­tion this May, Williamson plans to play vol­ley­ball pro­fes­sion­ally in Europe and com­plete the Mas­ters Inter­na­tional Pro­gram with the Peace Corps.

In addi­tion to vol­ley­ball, Williamson is involved with and has held posi­tions with the Stu­dent Ath­lete Advi­sory Com­mit­tee, Asso­ci­ated Stu­dents of the Uni­ver­sity of New Mex­ico and the La Placita Institute.

Williamson is grad­u­at­ing in May with a major in biol­ogy and a minor in sus­tain­abil­ity stud­ies because she has a pas­sion for pre­serv­ing the environment.

Williamson said that she is truly hon­ored to receive the award and would like to thank her par­ents Mar­cia and Cliff Williamson, her brother Tyler Williamson, coaches and past and cur­rent team­mates for help­ing her suc­ceed in all aspects of her life.

Story by Evann Kleinschmidt