SAVANNAH — Patricia O’Day, a practical nursing student at Savannah Technical College, has been named as the College’s winner of the Georgia Occupational Award of Leadership (GOAL).
The announcement was made at the college’s GOAL recognition meeting on March 4 at the Savannah Technical College Crossroads Campus.
O’Day was chosen by a panel of local leaders over three other nominees for the award. The runners-up were Christa Curran, Savannah Campus, surgical technology program; George Espinoza, Liberty Campus, marketing management program; Michelle Cowart, Liberty Campus, marketing management program.
GOAL, a statewide program of the Technical College System of Georgia, honors excellence in academics and leadership among the state’s technical college students.
Local GOAL winners are selected at each of the state’s 33 technical colleges as well as the four Board of Regents colleges with technical education divisions.
The announcement of O’Day as the Savannah Technical College GOAL winner was made by Christina Seeger who serves as the college’s GOAL coordinator.
For winning at the local level, the GOAL winner will receive a $1,000 scholarship from the college.
Additionally, O’Day will receive an all-expense-paid trip to Atlanta in May where, for three days, she will compete with GOAL winners from the other state technical college campuses. A panel of leaders from the business, industry and government sectors will interview them and choose one to be the state’s 2008 GOAL winner and the recipient of the GOAL medallion.
The grand prize also includes a new car, courtesy of Chevrolet, the statewide corporate sponsor of the GOAL program.
“I am honored to be chosen as the ambassador for Savannah Technical College and technical education,” O’Day said. “I hope that I can inspire others to pursue technical college as a viable means of reaching their career goals.”
O’Day, a native of Sweet Home, Ore., has lived in Savannah for two years. She is currently enrolled in the practical nursing diploma program at Savannah Technical College and plans to continue with her education to become a registered nurse.
