Farid Eljaiek Earns Student-Athlete Academic Award at VSU

Farid Eljaiek of Jacksonville, Florida, is the recipient of Valdosta State University’s 2024-2025 Division of Athletics Student-Athlete Academic Award. He is pictured with Troy Katen, director of Athletics; Dr. Sheri Noviello, interim provost and vice president for Academic Affairs; and Dr. Richard A. Carvajal, president of VSU.

VALDOSTA — Farid Eljaiek of Jacksonville, Florida, is the recipient of Valdosta State University’s 2024-2025 Division of Athletics Student-Athlete Academic Award.

The Division of Athletics Student-Athlete Academic Award is presented to a junior, senior, or graduate student-athlete with the highest grade point average. Ties are not broken. Eljaiek is an outfielder on the Blazer Baseball team. 

“Winning this award impacts my overall VSU experience because it makes becoming the first-ever collegiate athlete within my entire family mean that much more to me,” he said. “Every single sacrifice I ever had to make regarding my academics, whether it was countless sleepless nights of constant schoolwork with morning weights or taking final exams in buses in the middle of the night on the way back home after an away series using a teammate’s hotspot connection. This award highlights just how much more all of it was worth it in the end.”

Eljaiek is currently pursuing a Master of Business Administration at VSU. He graduated in December 2024 with a Bachelor of Science in Organizational Leadership.

His supportive family includes mother and father Maribel and Alex Eljaiek, brother and sister Steven and Melissa Rowe, and roommates Ray Ortiz and Marcos Sevillano.