Areli Patterson makes it her goal to strengthen Guilford's community with every deed she performs.
Areli's commitment to supporting others across Guilford earned her the Martin Luther King Service Award this week.
“I do it because I want to give people a good experience at Guilford, and I want to be able to have a good experience myself. I want to be able to not just have a resume and a good transcript and a good GPA, but to also have an experience I can look back on with good memories.”
Areli Patterson ’26 spent her first year focused on her schoolwork. It wasn’t until her sophomore year that she felt the tug of Guilford’s community and her desire to help others.
“I dipped my toes into volunteering and helping others,” she says, “and the more I dipped the more I wanted to make Guilford a great experience for others.”
These days Areli has fully immersed herself in Guilford’s community. She’s an executive board member of Black Student Union, and also supports and attends the events and meetings of Hispanos Unidos de Guilford (HUG), African Caribbean Student Association and Pride. She’s also affirming and helpful to other students as an Assistant Community Director.
On Wednesday, Areli and three other area students were honored with a Martin Luther King Jr. Service Award at a ceremony at N.C. A&T State University.
In typical Areli fashion, she brushed off her work as no big deal. “It doesn’t really seem like work,” she says, “I do it because I want to give people a good experience at Guilford, and I want to be able to have a good experience myself. I want to be able to not just have a resume and a good transcript and a good GPA, but to also have an experience I can look back on with good memories.”
Amber Slade, the Associate Director of Career Academic and Personal Exploration (CAPE) at Guilford, nominated Areli for the award. “She’s always first to lend a hand and advocate for others whether it is for the campus community, in the classroom or to an individual,” Amber says.
Areli is a double major in Biology and Health Science with a minor in Art Sculpting, who wants to help others after Guilford as a cardiothoracic surgeon.
She wasn’t as outgoing or as generous with her time growing up in Lincolnton, N.C. Guilford changed that about her. “You can’t attend Guilford and not be changed. The community is great, but Guilford’s faculty and staff are even greater. I’ve never experienced professors and other people who so genuinely care about me as a person. I’m a different person because of them and I want to share that support and community with others.”
Want to learn more about a College that can have the same impact on you? Contact Steve Mencarini to learn more about Guilford.