Stanislaus State nursing student Ava Holland has been awarded the 2025 California State University Trustees’ Award for Outstanding Achievement, the CSU system’s highest recognition for student accomplishment.
She was named the Trustee Julia I. Lopez and Ann E. O’Rielly Scholar and was recognized during the recent September meeting of the California State University Board of Trustees. Holland will receive a $7,000 scholarship in honor of her academic excellence, resilience and commitment to serving others.
“I am honored to recognize the extraordinary accomplishments and perseverance of this year’s Trustees’ Scholars,” said CSU Chancellor Mildred García. “Each of these students has overcome significant personal and educational challenges in pursuit of academic excellence, and it is with great pride that we celebrate their achievements. We are also deeply grateful to our generous donors, whose support makes it possible to empower and uplift these exceptional scholars.”
The Trustees’ Award recognizes students across the CSU who demonstrate exceptional academic performance, financial need and a deep dedication to their communities. Holland is one of 23 students — one from each CSU campus — selected this year.
This year’s class of inspiring awardees will receive more than $200,000 in scholarships collectively, thanks to the generous contributions from past and present CSU trustees and other donors.
A native of Sonora, Holland joined Stan State in fall 2024 after graduating from Sonora High School with a 4.21 GPA. Through her school’s Middle College program, she simultaneously completed 60 units of college coursework and nursing program prerequisites, earning acceptance into Stan State’s highly competitive nursing program directly out of high school. Now entering her second year, she maintains a 4.0 GPA while also participating in the Student Nurses Association, Honors Society and volunteer opportunities such as flu clinics and Lions Club charity events.
Her path to nursing is both personal and purposeful. Inspired by her mother, a nurse, and shaped by the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, Holland is pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Nursing with plans to continue her education to become a family nurse practitioner. Her goal is to provide compassionate, community-based care in underserved areas.
Holland’s resilience has been tested outside the classroom as well. A standout high school athlete, she tore her ACL during her sophomore year of soccer and spent nearly a year in recovery. She returned to the field determined and was named her league’s Most Valuable Player her senior season. The experience, she said, taught her perseverance and deepened her empathy — qualities she now carries into her nursing studies and service work.
For Holland, being a Stan State Warrior means belonging to a community that celebrates achievements and shares challenges.
“As a Warrior, I recognize that there is an entire community around me of staff, students, alumni, coworkers, teammates and friends that I can rely on and feel supported by,” she said. “Our triumphs and our struggles are shared, and it is in this mutual support that we find the strength to make a lasting impact.”
She also credits the tight-knit nursing program for helping her thrive. “Meeting and bonding with my nursing cohort has been a blessing in my life, and certainly has allowed me to flourish in school,” Holland said. “Nursing school is incredibly difficult, but we all bond over the fact that we are going through the same struggles together. It makes me feel incredibly supported and recognized by those around me.”
President Britt Rios-Ellis praised Holland as an example of the promise and purpose embodied by Stan State students.
“Ava is resourceful, resolute and deeply rooted in service to others,” Rios-Ellis said. “At Stanislaus State, we are proud to walk alongside students like Ava — students who rise, persist and lead with compassion.”
