A Glimpse into The GGC Honors Program

What does it mean to be part of an Honors Program in college? Generally speaking, an honors program offers a more rigorous education to high-achieving students. In this type of program, you are given the opportunity to challenge yourself by taking more “in-depth and robust learning” courses (“What”) Taking part in an honors program demonstrates your dedication to furthering your education, as well as your commitment and desire to learn. Here at Georgia Gwinnett College (GGC), we have an honors program located in Building W, Suite 3233, that has been described as: “A program that offers a more integrated educational college experience through enhanced opportunities in scholarships, leadership, and creativity” (Honors). 

Credit: Andrea Piacquadio

The admission process for applicants interested in the honors program is more selective and competitive, as it does cater to individuals who are more academically driven (“What”). Because of this, there aren't many ways to be/become a part of the honors program. There are only two tracks to admission for those individuals who want to receive a “with honors” diploma from GGC. One of the ways that you could get into the program is known as the “Traditional Application Process”. This process requires applicants to have a 3.5 or higher college grade point average (GPA), you would have to write an essay (not graded on syntax), obtain a letter of recommendation from an institution they previously attended, and the last step would be an interview from the director of the Honors Program (Honors). Applicants with a high-school GPA of 3.5 or above are automatically eligible for the other way of program admission known as “The Auto Admissions Protocol”. Through this, applicants interested would only have to check “Yes” on their GGC application to automatically get their application sent to the admissions office. It would then be up to the admissions office to determine the individual's eligibility (Edwards). Overall, this type of admission would allow you to bypass the traditional application process and would be less tedious. 

After doing further research on the program, I still had many unanswered questions. What did the office look like? What is the environment like? Where is this program located? Who runs the program? To get my questions answered, I set up a virtual interview with the current permanent director of the GGC Honors Program via email. 

Credit: Georgia Gwinnett College

Originally, Dr. Edwards was an Honors English Professor and worked in a classroom environment, which included more direct interaction with students. However, after the previous director stepped down in January 2022, Dr. Jake Edwards, became the official director of the program (Edwards). Throughout the interview he described his role in the program as wearing “many hats”, and I asked him to elaborate on that. “As an administrator, you spend more time working on budgets, curriculum, and sometimes you even fix furniture or luge trash out. I do a lot of everything” (Edwards). In addition to those duties, he also mentioned that he taught a class titled Honors Seminar 1101, which is an introductory college workshop-style class aimed at helping students get adjusted to college life. While he does currently teach this class, his role as the director is much more difficult and demanding. His role overall is, however, enabling him to see all the potential this program currently has now, and in the future.

As I was wrapping up my interview, I still had no visual idea of what the Honors Department looked like. I was still eager to learn more and because of this, the following day after the interview, I decided to visit the department myself. 

Credits: Georgia Gwinnett College Website

As I entered the W building, right across the entrance was a map that displayed the location of the Honors Department. Building W is shared with the AEC Department, offices, and other classrooms, and initially, I thought I was going to be lost in this maze. However, I quickly realized that there were arrows that helped indicate the location of the department. As I followed those signs, they led me up three levels of stairs, toward the back of the building. I completely missed the entrance of the department the first time around, and with the help of some students, I made my way inside. When I arrived, I was greeted by some senior honor students that were in a circle, in the lounge area of the department. They saw how confused I was and asked me if I needed any help. I answered that I was just planning to look around and learn more about this program. Gladly, they were excited to talk about their program and started to tell me about their classes. “Are the honors classes here any different than the regular GGC students' classes?” One of the students answered by telling me that honors classes here are more hands-on and integrated. They told me that they still took “regular classes”, there were just a few that were “Honors versions” of those classes. That's when I remembered that Dr. Edwards also described the teaching style of these classes to be, “Teaching the ordinary subjects in a non-ordinary way.” 

Credits: Author

That’s when I got the chance to meet Dr. Edwards himself, in person. He welcomed me and asked me if I was interested in getting a short tour. I told him that is what I originally planned out, so yes. He started by showing me the study rooms and classrooms. I stepped inside one of the classrooms and saw that the room was not only organized differently but also felt more inclusive. Stuck in mesmerization, I couldn't stop looking at the drawings on the walls. Dr. Edwards saw the look on my face and responded by telling me, "I’m glad you like the room. We are trying to move away from just a regular lined up classroom and make our classroom more welcoming.” Moving from the classrooms, I also noticed there was a kitchen that displayed snacks on sale that were cheaper than: Fifty Cents. Not too far from the kitchen, there were two offices, the office of Dr. Edwards and the office of the assistant director. I noticed that the doors to the offices were wide open, and I turned to ask why. “Students always have questions that need to be answered. Of course, privacy is important, but we want those students to know that they are welcome to ask at any time and we are willing to answer.” 

Overall, The Honors Program here at GGC has the purpose of encouraging students to be pushed harder in their honors courses, with the aim of academic excellence. I realized that with the honors students that I met, the standards for a regular honor student are set high. “By challenging students to discover the deepest meanings of these core values and apply them to their studies, potential careers, and daily lives, this program allows for students to apply their learned knowledge in classes to the outside world” (Honors).