Graduating senior Ethel “Ellie” Hylton graduated from Harvard College last week Summa Cum Laude with a degree in Sociology and earned the Sophia Freund Prize for being the student with the highest overall GPA in her graduating class. Hylton was also inducted into the exclusive Phi Beta Kappa Society last fall.
Phi Beta Kappa doesn’t just induct anyone. Hylton is among great company, like Bill Clinton, Condoleezza Rice and Tom Brokaw to name a few. The level of excellence this society boasts includes intellectual integrity, tolerance for other views and a broad range of academic interests. Hylton was chosen as the one graduating senior out of one hundred to be inducted.
For Harriet scored an interview with Hylton and she had this to say about success inside and outside the classroom:
“It sounds cliché, but I tried to follow the things that I was passionate about. When I started as a freshman in college, I thought that I would be pre-med. After taking a science course, I realized that I didn’t really love spending hours in the lab. When I took a course on social inequality, I was immediately hooked; I found that sociologists asked all the questions about the world that I was interested in. So, I decided to study sociology—a decision which opened up some great research opportunities for me. I think it’s important to follow the issues that excite you. Pursue the questions that keep you up at night (for a good reason), rather than the ones that feel like a burden to answer.”
What’s even more impressive about Ellie Hylton? Greatness runs in the family – both her parents attended Harvard and her mom graduated Magna Cum Laude in 1982.
article by Danielle Young via hellobeautiful.com