Two Renton Technical College (RTC) students were honored today at the All-Washington Academic Team recognition ceremony in Olympia.

Bridget Ademola Irabor and Mohamed “Mo” Abdullahi are among the 63 outstanding community and technical college students in Washington state selected for their commitment to excellence and their positive contributions to their communities.

Mo is the top ranked community college student in the state and was also selected to the All-USA Community College Academic Team, one of only 20 students in the country to receive that honor.

“We have 380,000 community college students in Washington. Think about that. There are millions of students in the country, and Mo is one of 20,” said Marty Brown, executive director of the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges. “He is a grand example of the best and brightest among us.”

Bridget is originally from Nigeria and has lived in Washington state since 2014. In January 2015, she registered at Renton Technical College, earning her high school diploma. She has completed pre-requisite classes for the registered nurse program and has been accepted to the nursing program at Lake Washington Institute of Technology.

Bridget volunteers in her community to help elderly residents with shopping and gardening and volunteers at her daughter’s school.

Mohamed was born in 1993 in a refugee camp in Kenya, a year after his mother escaped the civil war in Somalia. At 19 years old and with an absentee husband, his mother was welcomed as a refugee to the United States.

Mohamed entered the RTC computer science program after high school graduation. He pursued his studies while working evenings as a security guard, and also as a tutor and technician in RTC’s Computer Help & Information Protection Support (CHIPS), a student-run service that fixes computers for free, a program he also helped to organize. Mohamed is a student leader in the RTC Associated Student Government and a member of the Phi Theta Kappa academic honors society.

The All-Washington Academic Team program is sponsored by the Washington Association of Community and Technical Colleges, Washington State Association of College Trustees, State Board for Community and Technical Colleges, and the Phi Theta Kappa honors society.