Westford Academy Graduate Awarded Wellesley College's Most Prestigious Prize

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Sophia Mo, Wellesley College Class of 2014

WELLESLEY, MA (11/04/2011)(readMedia)-- Sophia Mo of Westford, MA, a sophomore at Wellesley College, has been awarded a Katharine Malone Prize for Academic Excellence, the most prestigious academic award a Wellesley student can receive.

The Malone Prizes were established in 1985 by alumna Claudine Malone '63 in honor of her mother, Katharine Malone. The prizes are given each year to honor students who have successfully combined academic excellence in the previous school year with a commitment to contributing to the College community.

Three Malone awards are given each year. Mo received the Katharine Malone First Year Prize, which requires the recipient to be a full-time Wellesley student in residence for two consecutive semesters with a 3.9 GPA and SAT scores of at least 1420. She will receive $10,000 for this award.

Mo says she is "incredibly honored to have received the Malone First Year Prize this year." She was overwhelmed when she came to Wellesley, and says "a lot of students were superstars in high school but were humbled upon meeting their peers and taking their first classes. She was no exception." However, she quickly found her niche and excelled academically.

Wellesley's commitment to community service is important when choosing Malone Prize recipients. For three years, Mo worked as a student volunteer for the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life committee in her hometown of Westford, MA.

Mo will use the award money to help pay for tuition, but also hopes to use it to pay for a trip abroad to France in the winter or summer.

Wellesley College

Since 1875, Wellesley College has been a leader in providing an excellent liberal arts education for women who will make a difference in the world. Its 500-acre campus near Boston is home to 2,400 undergraduate students from 50 states and 75 countries.

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