College Graduate Spotlight

Elon Academy scholars go on to achieve success in college and beyond, becoming leaders academically and in their communities. The scholars featured below are just two of the bright young people from the program who are making a difference in the world.

Sylvia Ellington

Theta Scholar

2016 graduate of River Mill Academy

2020 graduate of Elon University with a B.S. in psychology

Sylvia is one of six Elon alumni participating in a year of service in health, wellness and education in Alamance County in partnership with local organizations. Sylvia is working with Alamance Achieves, a community-driven initiative offering educational support for Alamance County children.

Sylvia is an Elon Academy Theta Scholar and an Elon University Odyssey Program scholar. She majored in psychology and studied abroad in Australia during her time at Elon. Her academic performance earned her spots in the Psi Chi and Pi Gamma Mu honor societies.

She began working as an administrative assistant at LabCorp in 2015 while still in high school as part of the LabCorp Elon Academy Internship Program. While in college, Sylvia was an Elon Academy peer mentor and a member of the senior class giving committee. She also served as a member of the Morrow Town Task Force with the Alamance NAACP.

Sylvia views the Elon Service-Year Graduate Fellows program as an opportunity to address issues she is passionate about. A first-generation college student, she is focused on examining barriers and opportunities for educational access and success.

“Alamance County is my community and this fellowship is a chance to make a positive impact that affects people I know and love,” she said. “All community members should feel like they are treated justly and fairly. Basic needs like housing, food and safety should be met for people of all incomes. Members should also feel empowered to be engaged and participate in their community.”

Elizabeth Tish

Gamma Scholar

2012 graduate of Graham High School

2015 graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a B.A. in public policy and a minor in education

In summer 2020, Elizabeth graduated from Stanford University with a master’s degree in education policy, organization and leadership studies. Her experience with Elon Academy profoundly impacted her career goals.

“After participating in the program and being accepted at UNC, I realized that Elon Academy provided me with so many more opportunities than my peers from similar low-income backgrounds,” Elizabeth said. “It was frustrating to me that only a select number of Alamance County students were offered the support that Elon Academy provides, even though there are so many students who need that support. This drove my curiosity around how public education policy is created.”

During college, Elizabeth explored future careers through internships in teaching and at an educational technology startup. The summer after her sophomore year, she returned to Elon to serve as a teaching assistant on a research project with Elon Academy scholars led by former Elon Academy Associate Director Darris Means ’05 and Tara Hudson, then a doctoral student at N.C. State University.

“It was very impactful for me to be able to return to Elon Academy to work on this project,” Elizabeth said. “Over the following five years, we were able to write a few pieces with our research findings. Through this process, I was able to present at the Association for the Study of Higher Education conference and we were published, which was an amazing experience for me to have as I started my career.”

Elizabeth earned her bachelor’s degree in three and a half years and moved to Washington, D.C. She worked as an intern at the College Promise Campaign before transitioning to a full-time role as executive assistant at the Afterschool Alliance, a national advocacy organization for afterschool programs. About three years ago, she moved to San Francisco and began working with SF YouthWorks, a high school internship program.

After graduating from Stanford, she accepted a job as a credentialing manager at Summit Public Schools in Redwood City, California.