Darius Adams More than 190 students were honored at Midlands Technical College's annual Honors Ceremony on Thursday, April 17, at the Airport Campus. Each year, the ceremony recognizes students who have exhibited outstanding academic achievement or community involvement or are scholarship recipients.

Among this year's honorees were Theresa Pope and JoAnne Zeise, members of the Phi Theta Kappa South Carolina All- State Academic Team. Only 17 technical college students statewide received this honor.

"The Honors Ceremony is a special occasion, a time when the college community celebrates the academic successes, literary talents, and service contributions of our students," said Dr. Marshall (Sonny) White Jr., president of Midlands Technical College. "It's also a time when we honor those students who have gone above and beyond what they were expected to do."

Catalina Abruntilla, an MTC Student Advisory Board officer who led the invocation at the ceremony, said, "The Honors Ceremony was exciting to me because I've had inductions to two different honor societies here, but this ceremony included everything across the board - all the clubs and organizations, all the Who's Who's - we were all there."

The student who received the most awards at this year's ceremony was Darius Adams. Adams was this year's MTC Outstanding Associate in Science Student as well as the Outstanding Student Advisory Board Officer. Adams was also recognized for other awards including highly competitive scholarships from the South Carolina Professional Association for Access and Equity and the Southern Regional Council on Black American Affairs.

A graduate of Brookland- Cayce High School, Adams will graduate from MTC this May with an associate in science degree. This fall, Adams plans to transfer to USC Aiken to pursue a nursing degree.

Adams is currently the MTC Student Advisory Board vice president of public eelations and communications. He is also a member of the MTC Ambassador Assembly, a prestigious honors organization of outstanding MTC students selected to represent the college in the community.

A significant reason Adams got so involved in college programs and service, he said, was his involvement in MTC's inaugural African American Male Leadership Institute (AAMLI) class.

"[AAMLI] encouraged me to be a leader, encouraged me to want to learn more about black history, and, of course, encouraged me to do the right thing," Adams said. "It allowed me to meet other black young males who were on the same page as I am."

Midlands Technical College created the African American Male Leadership Institute in fall 2006 to address the issue of underrepresentation of African American men in higher education and increase their retention rates at the college.

"I am just so grateful for MTC," Adams said. "That slogan, you can get anywhere from here is so appropriate…Now I feel I can tackle anything, because I've had so much support and encouragement in academics and scholarships and grants, and with organizations I've been in."