College Relations
Wilmington resident highest GPA of all seniors at Salem State College
CONTACT --- Cyndi McMahon at 978-542-7500 or c_mcmahon@salemstate.edu
 Salem, Mass. - Jodi Lepore, a resident of Wilmington who "really struggled" through four years at Arlington Catholic High School, has attained the highest grade point average of any senior at Salem State College this academic year.
Her 3.98 GPA in the School of Social Work is inspired by volunteer work she performed at Casa de Esparanza de Los Ninos (House of Hope for Children), a shelter in Houston. "I never considered college as an option after high school," she said.
Instead Lepore volunteered to help abused and neglected children with HIV. This experience motivated Lepore to apply to college. "I knew that I needed a college degree to really make a difference in this field. The children at the shelter gave me the confidence I needed," Lepore reflected.
Patricia M. Connolly, a mentor to Lepore and a School of Social Work Professor, comments, "She is fully aware of the life lessons that come with every phase of life, and college life has been an intense time of integrating ideas for Jodi. She can always be counted on to use her critical thinking skills along with her enormous heart in order to get the real essence of her subject or her job."
Lepore was the featured student speaker and recipient of the Outstanding Senior Award at the recent twenty-first Annual Academic Convocation. "This award has validated the idea that I can do it and now I am looking forward to graduate study," explains Lepore. "As a student that struggled in high school to even consider graduate school is amazing," she added.
In addition to her achievements at Salem State College, Lepore recently received the Daniel Aaron Collins Memorial Scholarship and the Richard W. Webbe & Alumni Plaza Scholarship.
For more information on Lepore or the Salem State College School of Social Work contact 978- 542-6629 or visit www.salemstate.edu.
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