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Student Who Helped Discover New Plant Gene is CCC's 2014 Commencement Speaker

A 20-year-old student who served on a research team that discovered a previously undetected plant gene will deliver the graduating student address during Camden County College’s 46th commencement exercises on May 17. Representing the Class of 2014 during the 10 a.m. event that is expected to draw 5,000 audience members will be Sarah M. Kamal, a 2011 Washington Township High School graduate who lives in Sewell.

Kamal’s speech will focus on the non-textbook lessons that she and her fellow students learned while attending CCC. She is including quotations from late South African President Nelson Mandela and Academy Award-winning actress Lupita Nyong’o in her presentation.

 

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Kamal is receiving her associate in science degree with a double major in pre-pharmacy and biology. She completed her CCC studies with a 3.3 grade-point average.

 

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Last summer, Kamal was selected for a National Science Foundation Research Experiences for Undergraduates internship with the Rutgers University–Camden Computational Biology Summer Program. She was a member of the team that discovered the GIGANTUS1 growth-regulating plant gene.

 

At CCC, Kamal was inducted into Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society. She served as the Alpha Nu Mu chapter’s co-president and completed the national organization’s Five Star Competitive Edge program. The Honors Program student also earned Dean’s List status multiple semesters and received a Robert Sydney Needham Scholarship. Her other campus activities included tutoring students in Arabic and writing for the Campus Press.

 

Kamal currently is employed as a state-certified pharmacy technician at Rite Aid in Sicklerville. She plans to continue her higher education and earn a doctor of pharmacy degree.

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