Student Employee of the Year
Student employees are a valued part of the Emory community. Not only do they bring exceptional skills and energy to our work environments, but they also equip many units and departments to fulfill their responsibilities critical to Emory’s mission. Part-time campus employment is also beneficial for students, as these positions provide both a practical resource for contributing to the cost of education and a valuable opportunity to gain work experience.
The national Student Employee of the Year (SEOTY) competition is sponsored by the National Student Employment Association. This competition starts at the school level, where supervisors nominate outstanding student employees. Emory’s Student Employee of the Year selection committee reviews all nominations and selects the Emory University Student Employee of the Year in early February of each year. Emory’s annual honoree is featured on the Office of Financial Aid website and receives an award certificate and a scholarship sponsored by the Office of Financial Aid.
The Campus Student Employee of the Year is submitted to compete at a regional level each March, and regional honorees move on to the national competition. The National Student Employee of the Year celebration occurs during National Student Employment Week, which is celebrated during the second full week of April each year.
Meet the 2025-2026 Emory University Student Employees of the Year
Undergraduate Student Employee of the Year is Sasha Trukhnova
Barkley Forum
"In her role with the Barkley Forum for Debate, Deliberation, and Dialogue, Sasha consistently approaches her work with a level of care, intentionality, and passion that far exceeds the expectations of a student employee. Her contributions have had a meaningful and lasting impact on our office, the Emory community, and the broader audiences we serve. Across all of her work, a recurring and defining theme is Sasha’s commitment to creating thoughtful, inclusive, and affirming spaces for dialogue. Whether she is designing campus engagement initiatives, facilitating complex conversations, or supporting large-scale programs, Sasha leads with empathy, intellectual rigor, and a deep respect for the experiences of others. These qualities make her an exceptional contributor to community service efforts and a model of socially impactful student leadership.
Sasha Trukhnova is an extraordinary student employee whose work exemplifies excellence in community service, critical thinking, and social impact and belonging. Her leadership, adaptability, and unwavering commitment to inclusive dialogue have made a lasting difference in the Barkley Forum and beyond. --Lydia Smith
"I am both humbled and honored to be selected as the Undergraduate Student Employee of the Year. Working as a Barkley Forum Intern has been a joyful, creative, and enriching experience, and receiving this recognition fills me with immense gratitude. Most of all, I am thankful to Lydia Smith and RW Poole, my supervisors, mentors, and friends, who have given me the space to flourish in this role. Their guidance and encouragement have made my senior year at Emory incredibly special."—Sasha Trukhnova
Emory’s Graduate Student Employee of the Year & National Graduate Student Employee of Year is Gelila Ambellu, 26 BSPH
Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing
"Ms. Ambellu exemplifies the very best of Emory’s student employees. She exemplifies students’ abilities to strengthen Emory’s research initiatives and represent Emory professionally in outward-facing contexts (e.g., conferences, cross-institutional research meetings). Ms. Ambellu truly embodies Emory’s values through her interpersonal excellence and is a poised communicator, an exceptional collaborator, and a reliable source of professionalism and positivity within any team. Her impact on our work has been profound, and I can say without reservation that she represents the qualities the Student Employee of the Year award seeks to recognize. I strongly and enthusiastically support her nomination for recognition in the category of Professionalism, Effective Communication, and Interpersonal Skills."—Emily L. Mroz
I am incredibly grateful for my REAL position in Dr. Emily L. Mroz’s Frost Lab at Emory University’s Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing. It has been such a joy to lead a scoping review on the use of patient-centered narrative approaches to serious illness care. I truly believe my participation in this lab has transformed me from a public health student to a scholar in healthy aging. This review will serve as the basis of my dissertation, “Pre-Implementation of Recommendations-based a Narrative-Sharing Intervention for Older Black Adults Receiving Dementia Care at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, Missouri."
I’m touched to have received this award as I conclude my time at Emory. It is an honor to be recognized for my “heart work."—Gelila Ambellu
“While Sasha & Gelila are the overall winners, we would also like to acknowledge the winners of each category for the Undergraduate competencies":
- Community Service:Sasha Trukhnova
- Leadership: Adrian Lopez-Zuniga
- Innovation & Technology: Ciera Bulter
- Social Impact & Belonging: Kio Whitten
- Critical Thinking: Sasha Trukhnova
SEOTY Frequently Asked Questions
Undergraduate students employed on campus, receiving employee payroll, and performing a student employee job are eligible. Resident advisers, graduate students, and teaching assistants are not eligible.
Details on nominating a student for the 2026 SEOTY will be released in December 2025. For general questions, please email the FWS Team at fws@emory.edu with the subject line “SEOTY”
Nominees are evaluated in five areas that will highlight their accomplishments:
• Community Serve
• Social Impact and Belonging
• Leadership
• Innovation & Technology
• Critical Thinking
We encourage all supervisors and colleagues of student employees to take time during the second full week of April to recognize and reflect upon the contributions of their student employees. In 2026, this celebration will occur April 13-17.