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Northwest Mississippi Community College William Winter Scholars

by Sarah Smith

Senatobia, MS (03/04/2025) — Northwest Mississippi Community College is proud to announce the William Winter Scholars for 2025 are sophomore general college student, Daniel Alderman of Hernando, and history instructor, Carla Townsend, who works primarily at the DeSoto campus in Southaven.

The William Winter Scholar program instructor honoree is chosen by the college's academic administration, while the student honoree is chosen by a faculty member in the Humanities department. The pair will be honored at the Natchez Literary and Cinema Celebration (NLCC) in late March. The NLCC theme this year is "Follow the French Through Natchez," the Marquis de Lafayette's farewell tour of the United States to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Gilbert du Motier and Lafayette. This event is to celebrate history and culture and is done in partnership with the Sons of the American Revolution.

Alderman was nominated by his instructor, Townsend, who said he's an exceptional student who always engages with the content and makes the necessary connections in historical discussions.

After graduating from Northwest, he hopes to continue his studies at the University of Mississippi before attending Arcadia University to get his master's degree. He would like to become a creative writing professor because he believes that history and writing or art in general are deeply intertwined.

Under the pseudonym Sable Briar he also writes poetry, where he gets to explore subjects such as history, art, and culture.

"I love the arts and humanities," said Alderman. "I love literature."

Getting the opportunity to not only read, but make the connections excites Alderman, who said his favorite time periods to read about are the day-to-day life from the 1920s up to the 1970s, where life was drastically different and changed rapidly.

Alderman said this accomplishment meant so much to him, because as a non-traditional student having had stopped classes during 2021 due to COVID, then returning now, he felt that he wasn't as smart or maybe qualified to be an academic. But after encouragement through Townsend and other instructors, he realized that not only was he smart and able, but in fact, could excel in academia, and this award affirmed that fact.

"It's an acknowledgement of all my effort," said Alderman. "It shows I can do things that I didn't think I could. It's a reminder that I'm a lot smarter than I give myself credit for."

Townsend, a native of Independence, has spent much of her professional career at Northwest serving in various roles starting in the Foundation Office and serving as an assistant tennis coach while she worked on getting her master's degree in European history.

Townsend started her college career at Northwest in 2003 before transferring to the University of Southern Mississippi, then transferred to the University of Mississippi where she got her bachelor's degree. She received her master's degree in 2007 from American Public University.

Shortly thereafter, she transitioned into a faculty position where she started teaching in the social science department as a history instructor and has been in that role for over a decade now. Previously, she's received various accolades including Humanities Teacher of the Year in 2020, DeSoto Teacher Excellence Award in 2021, and she completed her ACUE Certification. She also was chosen by her colleagues in the fall of 2018 for the DeSoto Center Spotlight Teacher.

Outside of her professional life, Townsend loves getting to travel and spending time with friends and family, especially her nieces, Ruth and Lydia, and nephews, Gabe and Grant, who she loves spoiling.

During her travels she loves exploring historic places and coming back and sharing her experiences with her students. Last year she went to Boston, visiting various iconic locations of the American Revolution such as Paul Revere's home, and when she returned, she shared those pictures and stories with her students.

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Northwest sophomore, Daniel Alderman, and history instructor, Carla Townsend at the Northwest DeSoto Library. Photo by Sarah Smith

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