open-minded and understanding of your situation to make sure you’re getting the help you need to learn.” Beyond the instructors, he said fellow students provide a sense of community. “We’re all new to it. We’re all looking for someone to talk to and by the first quarter of your freshman year, you have made friends,” Garett began. “It’s a great community. You’re not going to feel out of place because everyone’s in the same boat, everyone’s there for you. We’re all rooting for each other. You really don’t get the separate cliques. It’s one big group.” Ava Rodriguez Ava Rodriguez had watched as her older sister got ahead on college credit by taking community college classes, so at age 14, Ava enrolled in two FLCC art history classes. Then, she kept going, completing her high school homework during lunches and study halls at Pittsford-Mendon then switching gears to college work in the afternoon and evening. In the summer before her senior year, Ava and her mother, Zenah, reviewed her credits and confirmed that, with the right courses, she could finish her liberal arts associate degree before completing high school. “My mom is my biggest supporter. I really couldn’t have done it without her,” Ava said. Ava started this fall at St. John Fisher University’s Wegmans School of Pharmacy. It is typically a six-year program, but Ava’s associate degree means she can finish in four. Ava particularly enjoyed biology with Professor Kelli Prior, chemistry with technical specialist and instructor Jennifer Zink, and physics with adjunct instructor Thomas Henderson. “They were easy going. If you were having trouble with the material or an issue came up in your personal life, they’re more than willing to work around it,” she said. “I think my favorite professor was Dr. Henderson. You know those teachers that really have a passion for teaching, and they try to make it as enjoyable for the student. He was all-around one of the best teachers I’ve ever had.” Lily Hall Lily Hall took some online classes directly through FLCC as an Early College Scholar and earned other credits by taking Gemini classes at Dundee High School. She built up enough credits for an associate degree in liberal arts by the last day of high school classes. “Going into senior year, most kids expect to take the bare minimum of classes and coast through the year. As nice as that may sound, I am so glad I decided to maximize my time by pursuing this path. It surely made the summer more enjoyable knowing I already have two years of college, and a degree, under my belt.” Lily’s favorite classes were art history and American Sign Language. She is currently pursuing a certification from Google in cybersecurity. “I’ve always enjoyed setting high goals for myself, and this certainly played a role in my decision to pursue my associate degree before I finished high school, but the bigger motivation for me was that I knew that it would be the wisest way for me to use my time,” she said. Lily said she learned more than new content in her college classes. “I learned how to communicate with my professors. I learned how to stand up for myself when it came to my grades. I learned how to learn about things I did not enjoy and find meaning in them, and I even learned about how important time management is,” she said. “The ups and downs that I have faced in college so far have helped me grow as a person and that is what made my FLCC experience positive.” Lily Hall of Dundee used the Gemini and Early College Scholars programs to finish high school and FLCC on the same day. “I’ve always enjoyed setting high goals for myself, and this certainly played a role in my decision to pursue my associate degree before I finished high school…” —Lily Hall theLAKER | 11
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