DeKALB | NIU student Kate Green has a lot on her plate, with a double major, minor, job and more. Her work here has been recognized for the 2010 Student Lincoln Laureate award.

The Student Lincoln Laureate is an annual award honoring a student for being the top senior from each of the state’s public and private four-year colleges and universities.

According to an NIU news release, the award also recognize the students’ achievement in curricular and extracurricular activities. This year the ceremony took place at the historic Old State Capitol in Springfield on Saturday.

Christopher Jones, chair of the NIU Department of political science, said he nominated Green for the award.

“She has an intellectual maturity and curiosity that is uncommon for an undergraduate,” Jones said. “She is also a natural and proven leader.”

With the guidance and example her parents set, it was easy for Green to follow their path. Both parents and grandfather are alums of NIU, so it was only right for her future to be just as bright as her families, said the news release.

Green graduated from Geneva High School in 2007 and came to NIU with the same academic goal, which was excellence. AP Scholar, Illinois Scholar, National Merit Scholar Finalist and recipient of the U. S. Girl Scouts Gold Award and now the Student Lincoln Laureate are awards Green have earned.

“I knew Northern was a research university, but I also knew the university really focused on undergraduate education. I wasn’t going to be just a number,” Green said in the press release.

Green will be graduating in May with a 4.0 GPA, earning degrees in political science, economics and Chinese.

She is also an active and published scholar of internationals relations. In March, Green will present her research study on U.S Iranian relations at an international study conference in Canada.

Her plan after graduation is to pursue a Ph.D. in political science, specializing in international relations. Notre Dame, Northwestern and the University of Chicago are the universities listed as her potential graduate school.

“I’ve always been a driven person, and I definitely get that from my parents,” she said in the press release. “My friends joke that I’m going into my family business, because we’re all academically minded. I just love school and always have.”