Aleah Brinn is the recipient of a 2022 North Carolina Community College System Academic Excellence Award.
Brinn, a Belhaven resident, is a student in Wayne Community College’s Aviation Systems Technology program.
From an early age, Brinn had loved aerospace and dreamed of becoming an engineer for NASA. She planned to go into the U.S. Air Force and flourished in her high school’s Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (JROTC). Physical limitations kept her from joining the Air Force so she decided to concentrate on academics, earning a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics from Virginia Wesleyan University’s Honors College.
In time, Brinn realized she’d “rather work on aircraft than sit at a desk and design them” and she enrolled in WCC’s Aviation Systems program. She has excelled academically as well as with the hands-on components of the program, demonstrating a high degree of workmanship in practical projects. Brinn’s instructors nominated her for the academic award.
The NCCCS award is designed to honor a student at each of the 58 constituent community colleges who has set the highest possible goals and attained the pinnacle of academic success.
Brinn was awarded a certificate and a medallion at WCC’s Student Recognition Ceremony.
Alicia Patel, an Associate in Engineering major, and Katie Wagner, an Associate in Science major, were WCC’s finalists for the award.
Wayne Community College is a public, learning-centered institution with an open-door admission policy located in Goldsboro, N.C. As it works to develop a highly skilled and competitive workforce, the college serves 10,000 individuals annually as well as businesses, industry, and community organizations with high quality, affordable, accessible learning opportunities, including more than 165 college credit programs. WCC’s mission is to meet the educational, training, and cultural needs of the communities it serves.