Apneet
“Coming to Highline as a Running Start student, I saw many doors open for me and my peers through the Honors Program, I learned the importance of ‘playing the game’ and the value of building connections.”
About Apneet
- Highline GPA: 3.88 GPA
- Transferred to: Seattle University
- Major: Business
- Graduation from HCC: Spring 2010
- Financial Aid: “Free Ride” from Sullivan Leadership Scholarship
- Of Note: “Running Start” student from Punjabi immigrant family
Apneet on the Honors Program
When I first came to Highline Community College in 2008, I had one goal: take as many classes as I could and finish school as quickly as possible. As I soon discovered, school was more than just earning a grade. It is an opportunity for students to mature, learn, and grow to be global leaders in our community.
Being only a sixteen-year-old “Running Start” student, I began HCC as an immature kid who merely was focused on moving on to the major state university up the road and not on developing any connections at Highline. I had no interest in any scholarships and didn’t understand the value of “playing the game.” That was–until I took Honors 100. Witnessing other success stories of past Honors students, I was determined to succeed as well. I literally listened to EVERY piece of advice the director of Honors, Doctor Clinton, gave me. From community service to getting involved on campus, I now see how everything Dr. Clinton told me helped me be where I am now.
As an HCC Honors Scholar, many doors opened to me. Poor Dr. Clinton wrote nearly twenty different letters of recommendations for me; I owe so much to her, to the HCC Honors Program, and to other HCC faculty. With my Honors Portfolio completed, I applied for the Sullivan Leadership Award-a full-ride four-year scholarship to Seattle University-and was selected as a recipient of the prestigious award! The summer after my HCC graduation, with Dr. Clinton’s support and her connections in the workplace as well as in academics, I interned at the U.S. Federal Court of Appeals in Seattle. I am here to say, my hard work at Highline Community College was well worth the nights of no sleep, while I studied for an economics, accounting or a business exam. Never once did I feel unwelcomed or incapable of achieving success, due to the support of Dr. Clinton and the Highline Honors Scholar Program.