Student Award Winners

Noah Hannula, Graduating with a bachelor’s degree in Finance

Noah Hannula doesn’t exactly do half-measures.

There’s his 4.0 GPA. His four years as a starter on the Metropolitan State University of Denver soccer team. His two Student Athlete of the Year awards. And now, the Provost’s Award.

“I was always pushed to pursue excellence no matter what I do,” Hannula said. “There’s no point in doing something halfway.”

An early passion for finance brought Hannula to his major. A self-proclaimed “numbers guy,” Hannula was drawn to finance and banking as early as grade school, when a stock-market simulation captured his imagination.

And throughout his studies, Hannula has also been a committed member of the men’s soccer team, juggling his coursework with practice and games in his position as starter and, eventually, team captain.

As a student tutor in the College of Business, Hannula says, he has also learned to relish giving back. “There’s a lot of satisfaction in helping somebody else and seeing them excel,” he said.

Over time, he has built up a series of cumulative successes — and a future as a financial analyst. He’s accepted a full-time position with Sierra Nevada Corporation, where he completed his internship as a financial analyst last summer.

As for his new title as Provost’s Award winner, Hannula has taken the prize in stride. “It’s obviously a huge honor,” he said. “It came as a bit of a surprise. I wasn’t expecting to win, so that always feels nice.”

Hannula credits his professors and his teammates for keeping him grounded and helping him as he takes on new challenges as an MSU Denver graduate.

“The reason I am where I am today is due to putting my head down and working hard,” he said. “Grinding things out. Doing the small things. Those small things eventually kind of add up.”

Ammie Kellim, Graduating with a bachelor’s degree in Political Science

Ammie Kellim needed a jolt. The Covid-19 pandemic had upended her senior year of high school, and she had been sidelined by medical challenges. “I was kind of lost,” she said.

But something changed when she attended her first class at Metropolitan State University of Denver. As she sat on her bed and logged in to her first remote college class, Kellim felt something incredible. “I could feel this spark come back into me,” she remembered. “Suddenly, I felt something I thought I may never find.”

The spark, Kellim said, was passion and academic fulfillment — something she now embodies as the recipient of the MSU Denver President’s Award for fall 2024.

The child of two MSU Denver graduates, Kellim decided to follow in her parents’ footsteps by attending the University. But her experience in and out of the classroom was more than a date with destiny; it was a journey tailor-made for a campus leader. While earning a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science with a minor in Psychology, Kellim forged a path that combined civic leadership and academic excellence.

MSU Denver was a place to find her spark as she pursued her newfound passions for public speaking and debate. As president of the University Debate Team and a member of the MSU Denver Mock Trial Association, Kellim has helped bring new verve to both programs while honing her critical-thinking and communication skills.

“The University has offered so many things that have prepared me to have adeptness in the world after graduation — in law school and just in life,” said Kellim, who juggles nannying and home responsibilities with her busy academic and extracurricular schedule. “Learning to balance so many things with all of the support and opportunities offered by MSU Denver has been really incredible.”