Niles Resident Becomes First Oakton Student To Win Lincoln Award

DES PLAINES, IL - An Oakton Community College student has been selected to represent Illinois community colleges at the Lincoln Academy of Illinois Student Laureate Convocation. Andrew Tieng became the first Oakton student to ever earn that distinction when he was presented with a $1,000 scholarship at the Old State Capitol in Springfield earlier this month.

“I think that being named the student laureate, and as I understand I am the first from Oakton to be nominated and also then win, I think it forced me to understand the obligation I have to the Oakton students and the Oakton community to be the best version of myself that I can be,” Tieng said. “If I am an individual that is paving any sort of pathway for future Oakton students, I think it holds me accountable and also helps me find a strong sense of purpose behind the things that I do.”

The award Tieng, of Niles, received is given yearly to community college students who excel in both curricular and extracurricular activities. Tieng is the Student Government president at Oakton and vice president of Oakton’s chapter of Phi Theta Kappa, the world's largest and most prestigious honor society for two-year college students. He also is active in Oakton Visual Organization, a student club.

“All of this has been incredibly rewarding, because everything has been like a cascade of dominoes, leading from one thing to the next, and I never would have imagined myself here right now,” he said. “We started a Pop-Tart Club last year; I went on a road trip to observe the Dakota Access Pipeline protests; I wrote a front page article for the school newspaper, countless other things, and now I'm on to leading the Student Government Association with a number of exciting projects going on.”

A sophomore studying economics and engineering at Oakton, Tieng hopes to continue his studies at either Harvard, University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana, UIC or Loyola University Chicago. But he is also interested in visual communications as a result of his involvement with an Oakton club and says, “who knows what route that might take me down.”

Oakton President Joianne Smith said Tieng's "servant leadership and his commitment to his community positively influence student life at Oakton on a daily basis.”

“Andrew’s care for his fellow students is truly remarkable.”

Photo courtesy of Oakton Community College