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Community Corner

CCC Student Elected N.J. President of Top 2-Year College Honor Society

A student majoring in pre-pharmacy studies at Camden County College has been elected New Jersey State President of Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society for the 2014-15 academic year.

Rana Elmekadem, 20, currently is the co-president of Camden County College’s Alpha Nu Mu chapter of PTK. During the Fall 2013 semester, she was the CCC chapter’s vice president of leadership and played an integral role in the College’s hosting of the fall PTK Middle States Conference on the Blackwood Campus.
   
Elmekadem is the first PTK state president from Camden County College. She was elected during the 27th Middle States Regional Convention, where she gave a speech and campaigned with help from chapter advisors Professor Dan Flisser and Professor Josh Roberson and her fellow Alpha Nu Mu members. She also answered questions posed by voting delegates from every chapter in attendance. A brief interview video is at www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGyayTbGKm0.

“It’s really just a great accomplishment,” Elmekadem said. “I’ll get to know all the other chapters in New Jersey, and I get to represent them and participate in their activities and help improve the region and state overall.”

Her main goal to improve PTK throughout New Jersey will be to increase the number of PTK members who complete the organization’s Five Star Competitive Edge professional development plan. This self-paced program of activities and instructional videos offers participants the opportunity to strengthen non-academic skills such as communication, teamwork, critical thinking, goal-setting and business etiquette while building an online portfolio that summarizes all of their marketable skills and experience.

“The Five Star development program is exclusive for PTK members,” Elmekadem said. “Having the competitive edge means members desire to better their chances of earning scholarships, transferring and getting their dream jobs.”

In addition to her PTK involvement, Elmekadem has maintained a 3.93 grade-point average. After graduating in 2015, she hopes to transfer to the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia to continue her pharmacy studies. She also plans to stay active in PTK as an alumna.

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