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“I like using my time to help other people,” says Juterh Nmah, who recently received the Northwest Georgia United Way Outstanding Youth Volunteer Award for her many service contributions to the Dalton community.

“The difference that you make in other people’s lives makes what you’re doing feel worthwhile.”

Juterh, pronounced Ju-tae, is a native of Liberia whose parents brought her to the States when she was six months old. Reared primarily in Utah, New Mexico, and Oregon, Juterh moved to Georgia in January 2005 to enroll in Dalton State, where her father, Benedict, is an Assistant Professor of Mathematics.

“I transferred here from Oregon State, which is a school of about 20,000 students,” says 20-year-old Juterh. “It’s been a better fit for me here because of the smaller classes. I find that I can concentrate better, and I like being able to get to know the professors on a personal basis.”

Juterh heard about the opportunity to become an orientation leader soon after she enrolled last year. She was soon chosen to attend the LeaderShape Institute, where college representatives from all over the state come to learn more about becoming successful campus leaders.

“I learned more about myself by participating in family cluster group sessions during the training,” she says, noting that group members told Juterh that even though she’s naturally “quiet,” what she had to say was “meaningful,” and that she had the potential to be a very effective leader.

On campus, she’s become just that. Active in the Black Student Alliance Club, which was initiated in the spring of 2005, Juterh currently serves as its President. She was recently admitted into Who’s Who Among American College Students. Last November, the club was nominated for and received the Whitfield County NAACP Community Service Award for service activities which included tutoring public school students at the Dalton Community Center.

“I really like working in the area of helping kids succeed, through tutoring or mentoring,” says Juterh, who plans to major in psychology, and hopes to pursue a master’s degree in higher education in the future.

Her other activities on campus include serving as a Student Ambassador and as the Secretary of Communications for the Phi Theta Kappa honor society. She also works part time in the Office of Student Activities, assisting Director Garrett Burgner and Assistant Director Theresa Kresl.

In late July, she will assist Kresl with the LeaderShape Conference, to be held at Darlington in Rome, Georgia, and for which Kresl will serve as the onsite coordinator.

“My goal is to help others in any way possible,” says Juterh. “I’ve been very blessed by the support of my parents and family, and I am very glad to give back.”