Community College of Baltimore County has named Vidhi Patel as its 2024 President’s Distinguished Graduate award recipient. The award, which comes with a $2,500 transfer scholarship and the opportunity to serve as commencement speaker, is given annually to a student who has shown exemplary leadership and a commitment to help others. Patel will be presented with the award during CCBC’s Commencement ceremony, 10:30 a.m., Saturday, June 1 at CCBC Essex.
Patel is among CCBC’s most talented students. With a 4.0 GPA, she has been described by professors as intelligent, motivated, authentic and a skilled leader. Her commitment to academic prowess is on par with her commitment to student involvement, enthusiastically immersing herself into activities on campus and never shying away from leadership positions.
Throughout her time at CCBC, Patel has held several leadership roles and remained an engaged student. She served as a First Year Experience senior mentor, president of the CCBC Essex Phi Theta Kappa chapter and Vice President of Service of the Honors College. She also founded and served as president for the Fashion Club on the Essex campus.
Patel has also shown concern for her community, volunteering at PRISIT, a student-led initiative that provides free design services to organizations and individuals in need. Additionally, Patel participated in the college’s partnership with the National Alliance for Mental Illness to promote the importance of mental health among college students through the #IWillListen campaign.
While Patel is majoring in General Studies, her true passion is fashion design. She has used CCBC as her steppingstone, saving money during her first two years of college and making good use of the resources and networking opportunities that CCBC provides.
Through CCBC’s Mellon Program, Patel was able to secure a paid internship with Brandon Warren Design, which afforded her the opportunity to learn about the fashion industry as well as demonstrate her creativity and design skills. This internship even allowed her to work on a collection that was displayed on the runway at the Baltimore Met Gala.
“CCBC has helped fund my education on top of connecting me to multiple resources that have led me to be here today,” said Patel. “I am grateful to have been able to attend CCBC and have access to their scholarships, facilities and organizations.”
Following graduation, Patel plans to earn a bachelor's degree at the Fashion Institute of Technology. Ultimately, she wants to start her own brand of formal wear.
