Dana Diaz Cuellar

I am honored to be nominated for the North Carolina Community College Academic Excellence Award on behalf of Sandhills Community College (SCC). I would not have been able to succeed without the support of my SCC family. Prior to coming to SCC, I earned my A.A.S. in Human Services Technology in 2015. I started taking classes for my transfer degree, but I was a full-time employee and a single mother, which left me no choice but to put my degree on hold. 

In January of 2018, I joined Sandhills Community College as the faculty secretary for Logan Hall. Ms. Susan Grine, my supervisor and advisor, encouraged me to finish my degree. I had the privilege to be in Dr. Dempsey’s American Government class, which was an interesting dynamic considering he is the college president. Being back in the classroom was intimidating, but having a great instructor eased my mind. Dr. Dempsey portrayed excellence in his classroom by using a variety of mediums to make government come alive. In addition to excellence, helpfulness and opportunities are two of the five core values of SCC that are demonstrated daily by faculty, staff, and students. It will be with great pride to one-day call myself a Sandhills Community College graduate.