Joe

“[The Honors Program] addresses an incredible need among non-traditional students for information, support, and an opportunity to achieve academic success in a community college setting.”

Joe on the Honors Program

When I started at Highline in the fall of 2006, I was fresh out of the Marine Corps and had absolutely no idea how college worked. So I just used my old standard operating procedure: just show up and do what people tell me too. It was fortuitous that my first history teacher, Mr. Glennon, gave me these marching orders, “Go see Dr. Clinton and tell her I sent you.” After dutifully knocking on her door and enlisting in her Honors Scholar Program, my college experience was transformed.

No, I didn’t have to sign up for four years of service or even shave my head. I just took her Honors 100 “Boot Camp” and did what she told me to. After completing an academic resume, several personal essays, and applying for a handful of scholarships, all assignments in Honors 100, I discovered and developed a network of financial and academic support that kept me in school and paved the way to a full-ride scholarship at Tufts University.

Dr. Clinton is onto something with her Honors Program. It addresses an incredible need among non-traditional students for information, support, and an opportunity to achieve academic success in a community college setting. Sign up and do what she tells you to!

In 2010 I graduated Magna Cum Laude with Thesis Honors from Tufts University with a degree in Computer Science; in August I began as a Software Development Engineer at Amazon.com. Thank you Highline and the Honors Program for setting me on the path to success!