How the Honors Classes at Queensborough Have Provided me with Extraordinary Experiences
Two years ago I was introduced to Dr. Paris Svoronos, after I asked my advisor on how to enroll in honors courses and conduct research. I have taken and completed the following Honors courses Biology 201, 202, Calculus I, Biology 553. These courses have been life changing since they have placed me in a classroom full of students that are motivated to learn and where professors do not only teach what is required of them. Since my exposure to honors courses I have been a part of several research projects including: New York City Department of Environmental Protection (NYC- DEP), Boinformatics (at Queensborough Community College), Neurobiology (at Queens College) for the past year and most recently a Research for Experience for Undergraduates (REU) in computational biology at Lehman College. Most of these opportunities would have not happened without the tremendous recommendation letters I received from professors I had during my honors courses. Queensborough’s honors courses usually end in a presentation of the research findings which have helped decrease my fear of presenting in front of others. This ultimately led to having my abstracts accepted and attending the Sigma Xi North Eastern Symposium, the Columbia Undergraduate Research Symposium, QCC’s honors conference and City College’s Undergraduate Research Symposium. Most importantly, it led to my travel scholarship to the Annual Biomedical Research Symposium in Seattle where I won for outstanding presentation in Neurobiology. I competed against Ivy-League schools students and I was the only community college student in my corresponding discipline. For the spring 2016 I will be taking an additional 5 credit honors course, Biotechnology. The Honors courses at QCC have challenged me for the best and have prepared me thoroughly to transfer to a four year college in the fall of 2016.
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