It’s always a delight when SCTCC graduates check in with us to let us know how they’re doing. Riley Breikos graduated from SCTCC in 2023 and was back on campus to help us out with an interview for a Psychology video, but he let drop that he recently won an award at St. Cloud State, where he transferred.
Breikos won the St. Cloud State University Excellence in Leadership Award for 2024, which recognizes students who demonstrate outstanding leadership based on evaluation of their academic commitment and leadership experiences.
After starting at SCSU, he became the president of the Psychology Club, which had really lost a lot of members after covid. During the 2023-24 academic year, he and the current members focused on a lot of events and guest speakers to bring the club back to life. While he was doing that, and of course taking classes, he also became the lead student director for the Survey Lab on campus.
“The Survey Lab at SCSU: we have two different types of surveys that we do every semester. During the fall semester we do a survey of the entire state, and during the spring semester we do it with the entire student body. We did one recently for the Central Minnesota Council of Aging,” explained Breikos.
Because of his work with the Psychology Club and the Survey Lab, he was nominated by professors from each of them. After the nomination, Breikos wrote an application in form of an essay of experiences that demonstrated leadership.
He was chosen as one of the recipients of the award and was recognized at the 36th Annual Excellence in Leadership Banquet on April 14.
“I really found fulfillment with the psychology classes and also philosophy classes I took while I was at SCTCC,” said Breikos.
During his brief visit on campus, Breikos chatted with several people he had known while he was a student at SCTCC, and you could tell that he enjoyed his time here. It’s not just a delight for us when graduates return; it’s also a delight for them!