McGehee has known she wanted to be a journalist since middle school, where she was editor of the Bryant Junior High yearbook. When she transitioned into high school, she remained on the yearbook staff and became editor of the award-winning Bryant High School yearbook staff her senior year.

When it came time for her to choose a college, 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock was an easy decision. Her mother and maternal grandparents graduated from the university, making her a legacy student. She was also accepted into the Donaghey Scholars Honors Program, which was another incentive hinting that 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock was where she needed to be. As such, she attributes a lot of her success to Dr. Simon Hawkins and Dr. Jessica Scott, director and assistant director of the honors program.

鈥淚 knew I would need scholarships to attend college, and they made it possible for me to go to school debt-free, which was something I never thought would happen,鈥� McGehee said. 鈥淚 was able to give my all to school, and if not for Donaghey, I probably wouldn鈥檛 have been able to be so involved on campus.鈥�

She was on the Donaghey Committee her senior year, which involves planning events for the program and interviewing potential new scholars.

鈥淚 just wanted to make an impact on the program the same way it did for me,鈥� McGehee said.

The program requires its scholars to study abroad, so she had the opportunity to travel to Amsterdam from August to December as well.

鈥淚t was life changing,鈥� McGehee said. 鈥淓verything that I wanted it to be, it was. It altered my view on politics and life, it made me more independent, and completely changed my outlook on life.鈥�

She has done a lot in her time at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock, but the accolade she鈥檚 most proud of is being executive editor of The Forum. She became editor her sophomore year, making her the youngest in the newspaper鈥檚 history, and was also named Newspaper Editor of the Year at the 2023 Arkansas College Media Association award competition.

鈥淚鈥檝e never known anybody as energetic as Chloe,鈥� Sonny Rhodes, advisor of The Forum, said. 鈥淚鈥檝e known some great editors in my 23 years of advising The Forum. I wouldn鈥檛 want to embarrass anybody by saying she鈥檚 the best, but she鈥檚 certainly one of the best. I鈥檝e never known someone who can do so many things quite so well.鈥�

McGehee met Rhodes when she joined the newspaper staff as a freshman, and thinks just as highly of him as he does of her.

鈥淗e鈥檚 been such a positive influence on my life and he鈥檚 probably my biggest supporter,鈥� McGehee said. 鈥淚 feel like I can go to him with anything and he鈥檒l help me with it. He鈥檚 written countless letters of recommendation for me, and he鈥檚 really become a friend. I鈥檓 really thankful for him.鈥�

McGehee serves as communications director for the Student Government Association, in which she has grown the and made it a 鈥渙ne-stop shop鈥� for things going on around campus.

McGeehee has also done Model Arab League since 2021, which is a multi-regional competition where high school and college students come together to cover topics and write resolutions to issues important to the Arab League. During that time, she and the rest of the team have traveled to Texas, Washington, D.C., and South Carolina. She has won awards at each of the five conferences she has attended.

鈥淚 say, if you like to argue diplomatically, the Model Arab League is where you should go,鈥� McGehee said. 鈥淵ou really have to know how to argue in a polite way. I鈥檝e won three national awards and awards at Houston and South Carolina. It really opened my eyes. It鈥檚 a different part of the world with an entirely different culture and lifestyle that I wouldn鈥檛 know anything about if not for the class.鈥�

She has tutored students at the 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock writing center and completed several internships at Little Rock publications such as the Arkansas Business Publishing Group, the Venture Center, and the Daily Record, all of which have helped prepare her for a career in journalism.

鈥淟ittle Rock is my city,鈥� McGehee said. 鈥淚n five years, I hope to have made a positive impact on Little Rock and have a really robust writing and photography portfolio. I just want to grow in my career, my portfolio, and my personal life to be the best person I can be.鈥�

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Frank L. and Beverly Whitbeck established the top graduating senior award in memory of their son, Edward Lynn Whitbeck, who was a senior at Little Rock University, the predecessor of 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock, at the time of his death in 1965. Each scholar receives a personalized plaque and a monetary award.

鈥淚 feel really grateful to have won and really honored to receive such a prestigious award,鈥� Nadeem said. 鈥淚t was a surprise because I knew so many qualified students who applied. I worked hard for it, and I am glad to see that all the hard work has paid off in the end.鈥�

After graduating with a bachelor鈥檚 degree in biology and a chemistry minor, the award-winning member of the Donaghey Scholar Honors Program plans to spend a year working in medical research while applying for medical school to fulfill his long-held goal of becoming a doctor.

鈥淚鈥檝e known I wanted to go into medicine since high school,鈥� Nadeem said. 鈥淚 shadowed some doctors in high school, and I saw first-hand how they can help people and apply their vast medical knowledge to heal others. In college, I got more involved in different health care experiences, such as volunteering and participating in clinical research. That affirmed my desire to enter the field.鈥�

Nadeem has worked at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (糖心Vlog传媒MS) for years in their emergency department research lab, working on multiple clinical research trials on patient empathy, stress of emergency department patients, and acceptability of naloxone.

鈥淎had worked with the 糖心Vlog传媒MS Institute on Aging to coordinate a grant-funded opioid education project in the emergency department, in which over 500 patients were given health information about opioids,鈥� said Dr. Michael Wilson, director of the 糖心Vlog传媒MS Emergency Department Research Associates Program. 鈥淎had developed protocols for this project and trained all lab members, including holding monthly training sessions and lectures. Throughout this project, Ahad and the other lab members were able to help many patients acquire naloxone, a life-saving opioid overdose antidote.鈥�

In other health care-related activities, he also worked as a summer intern at Arkansas Children鈥檚 Hospital and presented his work at the 2022 Arkansas INBRE Research Conference. Additionally, Nadeem volunteers in the 糖心Vlog传媒MS Winthrop Rockefeller Cancer Institutes and in 糖心Vlog传媒MS鈥檚 Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, where he holds and reads to babies in NICU. He also volunteers with Kaleidoscope Grief Center, a part of Methodist Family Health, in a support group for children who have lost loved ones.

鈥淲hen I started volunteering, I had just lost my grandfather last year,鈥� Nadeem said. 鈥淚 wanted to learn how to deal with loss and help others learn as well. It鈥檚 helped me to learn to talk about people that I鈥檝e lost.鈥�

An active member of student life, Nadeem serves as vice president of the Student Government Association, a health and wellness writer for The Forum, and president of the Campus Garden Alliance. He鈥檚 also on the Donaghey Scholars Student Committee, organizing Donaghey events and interviewing new applicants for the program, and on the Academic Integrity and Grievances Committee.

Nadeem also enjoyed serving as a learning assistant for a genetic class taught by Stefanie Leacock, an instructor of biology, who feels Nadeem made a positive impact on student learning.

鈥淔or my genetics course, I use an open-access textbook I developed in LibreTexts,鈥� Leacock said. 鈥淎had himself noted that additional practice questions would be helpful to students. Ahad spent the spring semester of 2022 working on review questions for each chapter that addressed specific learning objectives. Ahad authored nearly 70 questions and question sets, which are now publicly available in the online H5P question database LibreStudio. His work benefited not only our 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock genetics students, but other students and instructors may benefit from the questions he created as well.鈥�

Nadeem鈥檚 presentation on his work to improve student learning in the genetics course earned him a first place in the 2022 Student Research and Creative Works Expo. Additionally, he earned a second first place in last year鈥檚 expo for a research project he created about food deserts in Little Rock. Nadeem developed a map of food deserts in Little Rock, marking locations of dollar, convenience, and grocery stores in the city. He later presented this research at the Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance Summit, where it was shared with legislators, policy makers, and graduate students researching food insecurity in Arkansas.

With his college career wrapping up, Nadeem鈥檚 advice to new college students is to branch out of their comfort zones and try new things.

鈥淚nitially starting out, I was scared to go beyond my comfort zone,鈥� Nadeem said. 鈥淥nce I started trying new things, I realized how many opportunities are here and how many cool things you can do at this university. In order to experience them, you have to branch out and not be afraid to fail. You never know what kind of opportunities you will get in return.鈥�

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Among the top awards, Chloe McGehee, a senior mass communication major who will graduate in May and executive editor of The Forum, was named Newspaper Editor of the Year.

鈥淢ost of these staff members won these awards for their first year on staff, and it was an extremely competitive year,鈥� McGehee said. 鈥淚 am really proud of everything my staff was able to accomplish, and even if a member did not win an award, we all contributed to a third place overall. And of course it was pretty amazing to win Editor of the Year as kind of a final goodbye to The Forum.鈥�

Meanwhile, Jacobb Nichol received third place in the Photographer of the Year Award, and The Forum received third place for the Newspaper General Excellence category.

The awards were presented during an April 14 ceremony at Harding University in Searcy.

The Arkansas College Media Association is composed of private and public colleges and universities throughout the state, including Arkansas State University, Arkansas Tech University, Central Baptist College, Harding, Ouachita Baptist University, Northwest Arkansas Community College, and the University of Central Arkansas.

鈥淚鈥檓 elated for the staff,鈥� said Sonny Rhodes, Forum adviser. 鈥淭his is, by far, the most awards the staff has won in at least a decade, maybe ever. If you consider the variety of categories in which they won awards you get an idea of the enormous breadth of their talent. I鈥檓 very proud of them and grateful for all their hard work.鈥�

The Forum competed in the ACMA鈥檚 newspaper division. The 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock winners, places of finish, and categories are:

• Chloe McGehee: Honorable Mention, Newspaper Personality Profiles; Third Place, Newspaper Feature Page Layout; and Third Place, Newspaper Sports Photo
• Bryan Hernandez: First Place, Newspaper Review Writing; First Place, Newspaper Sports Photo
• Chloe McGehee and Bryan Hernandez: Second Place, Newspaper Meeting/Speech Coverage
• Skylar Boone and Chloe McGehee: First Place, Newspaper Feature Page Layout
• Jacobb Nichol: Second Place, Newspaper News Photo
• Joe Santana: First Place, Newspaper Feature Photo
• Vivian Angeles: Third Place, Newspaper Review Writing
• Ahad Nadeem: Honorable Mention, Newspaper General Column
• Maddie Becker (Graduated): Honorable Mention, Newspaper Sports Feature Writing
• Azalea Andrade (Graduated): First Place, Newspaper Personality Profiles; Third Place, Newspaper Headlines
• Andi Benbrook and Chloe McGehee: Honorable Mention, Newspaper Front Page Layout
• Emily Reynolds: First Place, Newspaper Illustration

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