AUBURN — William Rolfe of West Paris has been honored as the Central Maine Community College Student of the Year for 2018. He and six other Maine community college students were honored recently for their academic success and campus and community involvement at a ceremony in Augusta hosted by the Maine Community College System (MCCS) board of trustees.

An outstanding student with a perfect 4.0 GPA, Rolfe now helps other students at the college as a tutor in the TRIO program. A member of the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society, he serves with the Veterans Club on campus and with American Legion Post 151 in West Paris, where he serves as treasurer, service officer and post adjutant. Rolfe also works with injured and disabled veterans playing on the New England Warriors, a competitive veterans sled hockey team.

During his physical therapy, Rolfe developed a keen interest in cognitive neuroscience and hopes to one day pursue doctoral studies in this field at the Dartmouth School of Graduate and Advanced Studies. However, before that, he plans to transfer to the University of Southern Maine’s Lewiston-Auburn College to pursue a bachelor’s degree in social and behavioral sciences. 

The seven students being honored were selected by faculty and staff at each of the colleges. Each will receive a John H. Lapoint Jr. Leadership Award of $1,000. Lapoint was president of UF Strainrite in Lewiston and a trustee of the Maine Community College System. After his death in 1995, his widow, Jana Lapoint, served on the board from 1995 to 2006 and helped establish the fund for the annual awards.

Central Maine Community College Student of the Year William Rolfe is pictured here with Dean of Students Nicholas Hamel, left, and President Scott Knapp, at right.