NHC student graduates as an Honors Scholar with Distinction
 
Imagine being a freshman in college and taking Calculus I instead of College Algebra your first semester. Now imagine challenging yourself to complete an honor’s level contract where your presentation is listed as “Various Methods for Approximating Solutions of Equations: Focusing on Five Methods: the Bisection Method, Method of Pecard Iteration, Newton’s Method, Secant Method, and Method of False Position (Regula Falsi).” Are you sitting in an ivy-league classroom perhaps?

For Hoang Nguyen the opportunity to receive such an enriched classroom experience was found at North Harris College.

A daughter of Vietnamese immigrants, who came to the United States in search of a better life for their family, Nguyen set a college education as her goal early in life.

 “I will be the first one in my family to complete both high school and a college degree,” says Nguyen. “I know the way to a better life, and the American dream, is through education.” 

As a 1999 Aldine Spring Klein (A.S.K.) Scholar from Nimitz High School, Nguyen began her college education at North Harris College in the fall of 2000, and graduated with a 4.0 GPA on May 9 with an Associate of Arts degree, recognized as an Honors Scholar with Distinction.
 
While Nguyen’s high school transcript reflected the academic skills necessary to attend almost any college or university in Texas, she chose to begin her undergraduate work at North Harris College because of family finances and because it was close to home. 
 
She was thrilled to be included in the NHC Honors Program her first semester and quickly became immersed into the stimulating and rewarding academic opportunities the program offered.
 
During the three years of her NHC studies, Nguyen was invited to present her Calculus I work at the Great Plains Honors Council, serve as a political intern for Congressman Ken Bentsen, and perform 25 hours of community service with Habitat for Humanity while studying “Zeno’s Paradoxes” as an Honors philosophy contract.

Nguyen’s other accomplishments include: Honors Student Organization (HSO) vice president for public relations, Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society member, Who’s Who Among Students in American Junior Colleges, and the National Dean’s List.

Additionally, Nguyen recently received an $18,000 Phi Theta Kappa scholarship and will attend Washington University in St. Louis this fall, where she will study for a double major in graphic design and marketing.
 
According to Sandy Deabler, NHC Honors Program director and psychology professor, “Hoang is a seeker after knowledge both in and out of the classroom. Literally every time additional cultural enrichment has been offered through the Honors Program, she has taken advantage of it. She is beginning to stretch herself in ways that she never imagined two years ago.”
 
“Community colleges are a well kept secret,” says Deabler. “NHC’s programs and courses go through the same accreditation process as all state universities. Our campus offers college-level courses, which transfer to major universities. We are committed to excellence and offer enriched courses for our highly motivated students in our Honors Program. One of the major missions of all community colleges, including North Harris College, is to provide affordable and easy access to higher education for anyone with the desire to learn.”
 
For more information about North Harris College’s Honors Program, call 281-618-5528.
 
North Harris College is located at 2700 W.W. Thorne Drive, one-half mile south of FM 1960 East, between Aldine-Westfield and Hardy Roads. Registration for summer and fall 2003 classes is now in progress. For more information about the college, call 281-618-5400 or visit www.northharriscollege.com