Glamour salutes FSU nursing student

By Gerald Ensley

• DEMOCRAT SENIOR WRITER

• Published: September 13. 2010 3:50PM

Sophia Khawly got to see her first Broadway play last week — courtesy of being one of the nation’s top college women.

Khawly, 21, is a Florida State senior nursing student from Miami. She was one of 10 students honored by G lamour magazine in its annual selection of the nation’s top college women. The women are featured in the October issue of Glamour in the story, “Ten Amazing Women You Haven’t Heard of Yet.”

Khawly was chosen for her public service: Her parents are natives of Haiti. As a teenager, she helped them organize a non-profit organization that operates two schools with health clinics in Haiti at which the family works every summer. In January, Khawly held a fund-raising dinner in Tallahassee for victims of the Haiti earthquake.

The 10 winners spent four days in New York City, where among other things they were feted at a banquet, visited the United Nations and enjoyed the Broadway play, “Billy Elliot.” They each received $3,000 for the charity of their choice, which Khawly gave to her family’s organization, “Hope For Haiti’s Children.”

“It was exciting and I liked meeting the other girls,” Khawly said. “The majority of them go to Ivy League schools; I was definitely in good company.

“But I think it was really cool to be there for FSU and show public universities still can have top-of-the- line students.”

Khawly was in good company historically, as well.

Glamour, founded in 1939, has been choosing its top college women for 53 years. Nominations are open to college juniors and nearly 1,000 women apply each year. Previous winners include Hillary Clinton, Oprah Winfrey, Condoleezza Rice, Martha Stewart and Diane Sawyer.

Glamour editors asked Khawly to apply in February after she was one of three students chosen for Florida universities’ annual Excellence in Service Awards. In addition to her work in Haiti, Khawly is a member of FSU’s Center for Leadership and Civic Education, a Big Bend Cares volunteer and a

volunteer with the Boys & Girls Club.

She will graduate in May with a degree in nursing and plans to attend graduate school. She intends to earn a Ph.D. in nursing practice and eventually hopes to work for the World Health Organization.

Glamour labeled her “The Healer,” and her photo in the magazine — working with a mannequin patient — was shot at the FSU nursing lab.

“She has been extremely active in wanting to make a difference for vulnerable populations; she seems to have a real passion and leadership talent,” said Lisa Plowfield, dean of the FSU College of Nursing. “(Khawly’s Glamour award) is fabulous for FSU and for nursing, which is not often seen as an (important) major.”

Khawly is the second of four children. Her father is the manager of a Publix grocery store; her mother operates a party business. She said her appearance in Glamour has delighted her friends (“People I haven’t heard from in forever have sent messages on Facebook”) and family.

“My parents are so proud,” she said. “They’re going to blow up the cover and frame it.”