Shadariah Mason Named WGTC’s 2024 GOAL Award Winner

CARROLLTON, GA – West Georgia Technical College (WGTC) has named Shadariah Mason as its 2024 Georgia Occupational Award of Leadership (GOAL) winner. Mason is a currently a Medical Laboratory Technology (MLT) student from Shiloh, Georgia.

The announcement was made on November 29 at WGTC’s GOAL and Rick Perkins Award (RPA) Banquet, an annual event that celebrates finalists for both awards.

GOAL, first launched in 1971, is a statewide program of the Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG) that honors excellence in academics and leadership among the state’s technical college students. Local GOAL winners are selected at each of Georgia’s 22 technical colleges.

Mason, nominated by Medical Laboratory Technology Program Chair Dr. Phyllis Ingham, was chosen by a panel of local leaders. Other finalists included Hannah Hill, a Welding and Joining Technology student; Kamaren Holland, a Computer Support Specialist student; and Loyce “Misty” Smith, a Registered Nursing student.

“Shadariah is an asset to this MLT cohort,” said Ingham. “She is kind, compassionate, intelligent, and a resilient person who has a clear sense of direction and purpose. I am confident that she will represent WGTC and TCSG with the same warmth, support, insight, and hard work she exhibits daily in our MLT classroom and as a student at WGTC.”

Mason will represent WGTC at the regional competition on March 7 at Central Georgia Technical College in Warner Robbins. The nine regional finalists, three finalists from each region, will be announced at the 2024 State GOAL and Rick Perkins Award Conference in April. If selected, Mason will participate in the state competition during the conference. A panel of leaders from the business, industry, and government sectors will interview the finalists and choose one to be the 2024 State GOAL Winner, TCSG’s Student of the Year, the recipient of the GOAL medallion and a brand-new car courtesy of KIA, the statewide corporate sponsor of the GOAL program.

West Georgia Technical College, with campuses in Carroll, Coweta, Douglas, Haralson, and Troup counties and class sites in Heard and Meriwether counties, offers more than 120 associate degree, diploma, and technical certificate programs of study. A unit of the Technical College System of Georgia, West Georgia Tech is one of the largest of the state’s 22 technical colleges. For more information, please visit www.westgatech.edu.