A Northwestern Michigan College (NMC) student has been named Michigan's 2018 New Century Scholar, the top community college student in the state.

Elk Rapids' Alexandra Briggs, 21, will graduate from NMC this spring with a degree in liberal arts. She will receive a $2,250 scholarship to continue her education in leadership studies. She is NMC's sixth New Century Scholar since 2004. 

Briggs is president of NMC's chapter of Phi Theta Kappa and a resident adviser in North Hall. She also works on campus in the advising office. She is a NMC Commitment Scholar, one of a "cohort of promising, mostly first-generation college students awarded full NMC scholarships while in high school," according to the college.

“I found such a sense of community here," says Briggs, a 2015 graduate of Elk Rapids High School. “It was the best decision I’ve ever made, going to NMC.” 

Briggs was recognized this week at the All-Michigan Academic Team event in Lansing. She will also be recognized at Phi Theta Kappa's convention in Kansas City in mid-April and has been invited to be recognized at the American Association of Community Colleges conference April 28 in Dallas, Texas. The New Century Scholars Program is sponsored by The Coca-Cola Foundation and Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation and recognizes outstanding community college students. More than 2,000 students were nominated, two from each community college in the U.S. NMC's second nominee, Shelby Christensen, was named a bronze scholar and receives a $1,000 scholarship. She completed her NMC courses in December and is now enrolled at the University of Michigan.

Previous NMC New Century Scholar winners are Roxanne Scrivener, 2016; Kathy Tahtinen, 2015; Jessica Abfalter, 2013; Nicholeen Frusti, 2005; and Sally Beemon, 2004.