About Kevin

• Highline GPA: 3.7 GPA
• Transferred to: Seattle University
• Major: Sociology
• Graduation from HCC: Spring 2005
• Financial Aid: McNair Scholar, HCC Shirley B. Gordon Award
• Of Note: Classic example of the academic “turn-around” story

Kevin on the Honors Program

I finished high school in 1999 and went directly to the University (the way that you are “supposed” to). Well, guess what? I wasn’t ready, just focused on having fun, and at the end of the 1999-2000 school year I was given my walking papers; I had to fend for myself. Luckily, I found a job; then, I came back to school at Highline Community College in the fall of 2003.

At first I went part time, hesitant to take part in any extracurricular activities because, when I went to college the first time, that was what led to my academic demise. In my mind I didn’t need to get that involved because this time I had a plan. I was going to finish my AA, go to the new Highline branch of Central Washington University, and in two years I was going to be teaching in a sixth grade classroom.

A few quarters later my HCC Sociology instructor pushed me to take Honors 100 and my HCC “roller coaster” ride began. The first day of class I explained to Barbara my plan and she thought it was a decent idea, but questioned whether I was aiming a little too narrowly. She suggested that I try to get into several other schools. Seemed a little crazy, but I did what I was asked to do, meeting with heads of programs at Seattle University, transfer coordinators at Pacific Lutheran University, and even looking online at application dates for east coast schools.

What ended up happening is something that I would never have dreamed of. As an afterthought I mentioned something about finishing my degree where I started, at the University of Washington. Dr. Clinton pushed me on that point and introduced me to some people (and pushed me to meet some on my own) that ultimately got me reinstated to the UW Seattle. Through Dr. Clinton’s “opening doors” that I chose to walk through I earned several HCC awards, including the Shirley B. Gordon scholarship and was the student commencement speaker for Highline. I graduated from the UW as a McNair Scholar with a BA in Sociology. Today I am a grad student at Seattle University, earning my Masters in Teaching, financed by their prestigious Rodrigues Scholarship.