Victoria Alexandra Spears

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“The most valuable lesson I have learned since starting college is to accept challenges and to never underestimate myself. It has been the most difficult assignments which have proved to be the most rewarding. When I am challenged I tend to find out just what I am capable of, and I often surprise myself.”

  • Program: 2009 Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship Recipient
  • Resides: Stone Mountain, GA
  • Hometown: Atlanta, GA
  • Age: 30

Biography

PROFILE: Victoria “Tory” White is the sixth graduate of Georgia Perimeter College to be awarded an Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship from the Foundation since the program was initiated. But how many of the previous five Scholars were recognized by the Georgia General Assembly? That’s what happened in May of 2009 when Senate Resolution 375 was introduced honoring Emory University-bound Victoria for her academic achievements. The honor was the culmination of a whirlwind junior college career which began several years after her high school days ended. From age 18, Victoria worked upwards of 55 hours a week as a legal assistant for two law firms in Atlanta. Her “career” was going nowhere and she realized college would be her ticket to a better, more productive life. Victoria “immersed” herself in academia from her first class to her last in the spring of 2009. “My first day of class, I knew that I had made the right decision.”


INSPIRATION: Two professors at Georgia Perimeter College inspired and challenged Victoria to perform at a higher level than she ever had. Dr. Thomas Graham and Dr. Rosemary Cox both helped Victoria on her path to academic success.

ASPIRATION: She would like to eventually work within public policy, perhaps with a think tank in Washington, DC.

MAKING A DIFFERENCE: If you punch up Victoria’s name on Google, the first link that appears is a video on WGBH of Boston’s website of Victoria discussing a paper she authored about Chairman Mao’s use of propaganda. That particular effort won a college-wide competition for original research and is available at http://forum.wgbh.org/lecture/maos-use-propaganda.  But the achievement that is closest to Victoria’s heart is her research paper on the great American writer (and fellow Georgian), Flannery O’Connor. Victoria concentrated on Miss O’Connor’s wonderful short story, The Displaced Person.
 
ACCOLADES: Victoria was named a Phi Theta Kappa All-USA Coca-Cola Gold Scholar in 2009 as well as the Georgia Perimeter College School-wide Regents’ Outstanding Scholar. In May of 2009 prior to graduation, she was named the college’s outstanding scholar.

INTERESTING FACT: Victoria said she is “relatively mild-mannered and easy going, and I usually decline opportunities to talk about politics.” Because of that, some might be surprised to know that she is passionately devoted to politics and very involved in libertarian causes.

Other Scholars Like Victoria

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Valerie Topacio
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Patricia Boone
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