Before college, navigating academics felt like a solitary journey, as many of my peers did not enjoy school the same way I did. I believed I could find excitement even in classes I desperately struggled in, but it seemed I was alone in this belief. I shared the same experiences with others but not the same outlook. Like a slow raindrop gliding down a car window, I felt isolated, running parallel to the rest yet never merging with them. And I was fine with that. Or thought I was fine. This all changed when I finally decided to join the Honors program at La Sierra. In retrospect, this decision should have been instantaneous. But in my mind, my rigid four-year plan left no room for the program, and I dismissed the opportunity too quickly. Less than two quarters later, I can’t imagine my life without Honors.
At the time, although I knew on paper what the Honors program promised, I didn’t fully grasp that it was more than a series of academic opportunities; it also offered a community that could satisfy me at a deeper, more personal level. Because what I truly yearned for was a diverse education in which people from different backgrounds can learn from each other. I yearned for interactive, discussion-based classes in which collaborative dialogue and the mischief of “devil’s advocate” both play a role in our growth. I yearned for opportunities to work with others who were curious about different aspects of the same topic. But my pre-Honors self had no idea the key had already been presented.
The incredible people I met at STEM Bridge and IGNITE finally transformed my perspective. For what seemed like the first time in my life, I found peers who were unafraid to pose questions about the world, eager to engage in dialogue about it, and unabashedly happy to incorporate humor in their studies and studies in their humor. They were ambitious, curious, well-rounded, and inherently fascinating people to be around. I could finally relate; I could share experiences with them, learn from their diverse perspectives, and feel a sense of camaraderie for once in my life. Many, though not all, were Honors students. And I realized I needed to be among them. So, I formalized my decision and applied right before the fall quarter began. That has been one of the best choices I have made all year, and although they may not know they were involved, I am so thankful to everyone who has played a part in confirming my decision, whether before or after it was made.
Without Honors, I doubt college would feel this fulfilling. I would not have the opportunity to be part of an environment where the tangential questions and thoughts I once discarded in class are now spoken into the center of a circle—where they are passed around, mulled over, and transformed in the minds of fifteen unique individuals, like an ever-growing pincushion that Director Sutter gets to take home every day. Regardless of whether we are dissecting critical theory in Beginning to Seek or tearing apart the devious tactics of “merchants of doubt” in The Scientific Process, I have found a true sense of belonging. I can trust that my worldview is broadening and that this growth is no longer a solitary endeavor. I remember fondly more than a few Monday evenings after our Beginning to Seek course this past fall: together, we would step out of South Hall into the warm embrace of the night air, ambling across the peaceful, softly lit campus, lost in thought, bound by our shared curiosities, and clinging to our inquisitive frame of mind as we proposed and attempted to answer unanswerable questions about existence and morality.
Outside of our intellectual discussions, one moment remains vivid in my memory. It took place at an Honors vespers, during which some of us decided to have an impromptu jam session, and I remember being thrilled that my peers enjoyed making music as much as I did. Amidst the cozy lighting of a living room, I felt at home as I heard the wonderful mix of our cohort’s vocals for the first time, backed by the warm acoustics of Gerson’s strumming. Later, in the chill of the evening air on a quiet balcony overlooking the city, I found myself moved by Krissy’s singing and captivated by the guitar skills of Lia and Aurora. Although not unique to Honors, this mutual bonding over music was something I had never experienced before and was, therefore, unique to me.
It is often difficult for us to see our own light. Still, all the members in my Honors class (Ahmi, Aurora, Chelsea, Chloe, Estrella, Gerson, Hyeri, Jacob, Karenna, Kallysta, Lauren, Lia, Luke, Messiah, and Yehee) and so many in the rest of the La Sierra community each have distinct characteristics that I admire, from empathy to ambition to curiosity to logic to eloquence to humor. I wish I vocalized it more, but this is why every one of these people makes me sincerely excited to make the half-hour morning drive to La Sierra. I can never expect what the day holds, but I have not yet had a dull moment with these friends. Because Honors is more than a program for me; it’s a community. A place where isolated raindrops can come together to form a stream of shared growth.
—Ethan Nguyen-Khoa, Class of 2028: Biological Science/Pre-Medicine