Satinder

“After just two quarters I signed up for Honors 100, a course that not only changed my mentality and experience at Highline, but also enabled me to continue my education with direction and the financial resources I needed.”

Satinder on the Honors Program

As the oldest child in my family, a first generation college student, and a self-proclaimed mature high school junior, I came to Highline as a stop on my journey to law school. My plan was to breeze through Highline, collect my 4.0’s with minimum effort and move on—just as I had always done before. But after just two quarters I signed up for Honors 100, a course that not only changed my mentality and experience at Highline, but also enabled me to continue my education with direction and the financial resources I needed.

I adopted the mentality of an “honors student” very quickly and began seeking more out of my education at Highline. I applied and won the position of co-president of the Honors Leadership Team, which at the time was a brand new organization created by a graduating student to assist Dr. Clinton with handling public relations for the Honors Program. Despite the disadvantage of starting this club nearly from scratch, it has since taken on nearly 25 members, with duties ranging from public relations to myriad of different responsibilities. At this point, my involvement in the Honors Program was at its peak and so was my success in making the next step in my own education.

As a “Running Start” student at Highline, I had done well academically, staying involved in extracurricular activities and seeking out leadership positions. As a minority and the child of two immigrants from India, the Gates Millennium Scholarship could not have been a more perfect match for me. Upon hearing about this opportunity from Dr. Clinton, I worked diligently for most of my senior year on applying for the Gates, as well as other scholarships, and finished my Associate of Arts degree. The many sleepless nights, endless essays, and the years of work that I had put in led to me earning the titles of an All Washington Academic Achievement Scholarship winner and a 2011 Gates Millennium Scholar, in addition to institutional scholarships worth $32,500 a year.

After spending a summer interning for a non-profit organization in Seattle, I am now successfully transitioning into my first quarter of academics at Whitman College, debating full time for their nationally recognized team, and thinking ahead to law school.