Students at North Carolina A&T State University are encouraged to achieve great goals in everything. Six 2013 graduates applied that commitment to their academic pursuits by maintaining a 4.0 grade point average throughout their entire collegiate career.

Economics major, Monique Davis; computer engineering student, Shelby Kilgore; Rashida Scott, a business education major; Tiffanie Smith, a computer engineering student and  two marketing sales students, April Burrage and Briea Curington; share the distinct honor of graduating with a perfect academic record.

Each scholar approached collegiate life at North Carolina A&T with a similar goal in mind. They wanted to dedicate themselves to academic excellence. For these students, it all began with a promise they made to themselves at the start of their freshman years.

Curington of Fort Lauderdale, Fla. said, “I was able to prioritize and put what I knew to be important before social activities. I had goals to reach and maintain, which made it easier to balance.”

The high achievers set academic goals and in the process they found a working balance between academic commitments and campus involvement. 

“While here at A&T, I was a part of Alpha Lambda Delta Honor Society, Target H.O.P.E., Alpha Kappa Alpha, Sorority Inc., Pi Mu Epsilon Mathematics Honor Society and the Golden Key Honor Society,” said Davis, a scholar from Chicago, Ill.

Another Chicago native, Burrage knows plenty about balancing academics with campus activities. While at A&T, the top student dominated on the court as a member of the university women’s tennis team.

“I balanced the two by keeping open communication with my professors and using time management,” said Burrage, who also received the Chancellor’s Academic Excellence Award for her academic distinction.

Each student flourished in Aggieland but they insist that it required adequate help and collaboration with faculty and staff members.

It was because of, “my professors, Dean Craig, and being able to get help from them when I needed it,” that Scott was able to maintain a stellar academic record. Scott a student from Richmond, Va. will be working for Cisco Systems after graduation.

Each student proves that obtaining a 4.0 at A&T, while also being involved in extracurricular activities is possible.

Smith from Richmond, Va., encourages incoming freshmen to, “start off strong.”

“I always made my school work a priority,” said Kilgore who is a native of Westbury, N.Y. “I studied with my friends who were also my classmates,” she said.

A similar sentiment between all six scholars is that regardless of the temptations of college life, it is important for students to put their studies first, maintain positive relationships with professors and departments and find a balance between school work and social activities.

The academic powerhouses were able to hold tight to their goals at North Carolina A&T; proving that, “A 4.0 isn’t impossible,” said Curington.