Outstanding Graduate Award Finalists - Winter 2021
Winner: Jordyn Chiodo
Jordyn Chiodo graduates with her Associate in Arts with a 4.0 GPA. She plans to attend the University of Florida and pursue bachelor’s and master’s degrees in public relations and advertising.
Chiodo sustained a perfect 4.0 GPA while balancing her academic, volunteer and job responsibilities. She assists with daily maintenance of the ceramic and sculpture studios in SCF’s art department and is a student worker in the Financial Aid office. She also interns with Sammi B. Photography and the Sarasota Branch of the National League of American Pen Women as the assistant to the awards director. Additionally, Chiodo volunteers her time to SCF’s Clay Club and the Sarasota Suncoast Academy.
With more than a decade of experience with Girl Scouts of the USA, Chiodo learned to harness her organizational, problem-solving and communication skills. This led to her first role in public relations, working for writer Wilma Davidson and artist Diana de Avila who jointly released their first biography “Soldier, Sister, Savant.” Spending countless hours creating contact lists of businesses and organizations and publicizing their new book reinforced to Chiodo that public relations is the field for her.
Chiodo expressed that the accomplishment she is most proud of is the relationships she’s made at SCF. “These relationships have given me a place where I can feel comfortable and be myself,” said Chiodo. “I have received immense support and encouragement from all my teachers, advisors and employers. My time at SCF has shown me what I can achieve and how strong I have become.”
Finalist: Amanda Dawn Bray
Amanda Dawn Bray graduates with her Associate in Arts with a 3.47 GPA and aims to pursue a Bachelor of Science in early childhood education at SCF, with the goal of one day opening a daycare.
A veteran of the U.S. Navy, Bray is also the first to attend college in her family and has made the Dean’s List twice, in Summer and Fall 2020, after having battled complications from chemotherapy, radiation and brachytherapy.
Bray is a member of Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society and SALUTE Veterans National Honor Society. She volunteers with Kingdom Life Christian Church as a children’s ministry leader and is involved with her church’s annual Halloween October outreach program. Her concern for those in need has motivated her to participate in Manatee County’s homeless veterans Stand Down Project. Bray also provided a homecooked Thanksgiving meal and made meal deliveries to more than 50 people in 2020.
“SCF has improved my self-confidence, boosted my self-esteem and solidified my self-worth,” said Bray. “SCF helped me find myself again, gave me a new purpose and is changing my life in every possible positive way.”
Finalist: Sahori Omi Hoffman
Sahori Omi Hoffman graduates with her Bachelor of Applied Science in health services administration with a 3.6 GPA and plans to enroll in a master’s program upon graduation.
Hoffman emigrated to the U.S. from Japan more than a decade ago and achieved her U.S. citizenship in 2013.
She’s maintained a high GPA and made the Dean’s List in 2020 and 2021 while engaging in several extracurricular activities, working full-time at DaVita Kidney Care and managing a family.
She has been highly involved both on- and off-campus. Hoffman was vice president of the Future Business Leaders of America-Phi Beta Lambda in 2018 and a camp supervisor for the Greater Palm Harbor YMCA in 2020. She has also volunteered for the Pro Karate Center and Meals on Wheels.
She encourages students to never give up, no matter what. “The years will pass no matter what you do, so why not have a degree with it?”
Hoffman acknowledged that SCF made getting her bachelor’s degree possible. “The faculty went above and beyond to help me get my education – from the financial aid staff, the coaches, professors and tutors.”
