Honors College

Jacqueline Thomas competed in the Miss Arizona competition regularly during her time at GCU, finishing second in 2018, and now she has taken the next step. She won the title last weekend and will represent Arizona as she vies for the Miss America title. She credits GCU’s Honors College for helping her succeed. “Everything that I did once I joined the Honors College, from internships to jobs to other extra-curricular activities or opportunities within the Miss Arizona organization, was all because of the foundation that the Honors College laid out for me,” she said.

Honors College students gathered in GCU Arena on Saturday night to celebrate all of their achievements during the 2018-19 academic year. Assistant Dean Breanna Naegeli said the Honors banquet is one of her favorite events of the year. “It allows us all an opportunity to take a moment to reflect upon and acknowledge all the exceptional work and efforts of our students. These students not only take Honors courses and commit to the rigor in the classroom, but they continually go above and beyond outside of the classroom as well,” she said.

It was innovation on parade at the Engineering Building on Thursday, where dozens of computer science, computer programming and mechanical, electrical and biomedical students on about 35 teams presented their yearlong projects as part of the Engineering and Technology Capstone Showcase.

The idea for the April issue of GCU Magazine actually was hatched in 2015, when we told the stories of some of the incoming students in the Class of 2019. Now they’re graduating, and it was time to see what their four years were like. The answer: It was a head-spinning time of growth, both on campus and for the students themselves. This issue also features the University’s first graduates from its engineering program and its Students Inspiring Students initiative, a look at how GCU teaches computer programming differently, the heartwarming story of Jesse Dalla Riva‘s transformation from drug addict to graduate, and a My LopeLife piece by another 2019 grad. There’s more: what’s ahead for the GCU men’s basketball program, the increasingly important communication tool utilized by online instructors and students, and yet another heartwarming story — this one on recent GCU Hall of Fame inductee Sharky Baker. To read the digital version, click here.  

Learning and Living Communities are designed for GCU freshmen who prefer to share a residence hall room, suite or floor with students of similar academic interests. Along with the connections they make organically, there are organized activities in Juniper Hall, the building housing six LLC’s: Honors, Colangelo College of Business (CCOB), College of Science, Engineering and Technology (CSET), psychology from the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHSS), and nursing and athletic training through the College of Nursing and Health Care Professions (CONHCP). “It has a different feel,” Kayla Warren said of her freshman year in Juniper. “It is academically centered, where we were all in the same mindset.”

The College of Science, Engineering and Technology and the Honors College joined forces in 2018 to present the first CSET Research Symposium and Honors College Showcase “so that the audience can get a feel for a broader scope of research that goes on at GCU,” said Professor of Biological Sciences Dr. Galyna Kufryk. This year’s event featured hundreds of students across disciplines presenting their work — everything from augmented reality projects to the impact of college weight gain, the implications of curcumin in Alzheimer’s disease and a humanitarian project to help homeless women.

Washington High School senior Juan Ballez has watched his father struggle with mobility in his hand and, for years, wished there was a way he could help. Now, on the cusp of graduating, he thinks he knows a way — by becoming a biomedical engineer. His dream of helping people, like his father, came closer to fruition Tuesday at GCU, when he found out he was one of 43 students in the neighborhood surrounding GCU to receive the Students Inspiring Students scholarship. “It feels like a huge weight lifted off my shoulders,” said Juan after receiving the scholarship, which covers four years of tuition and books. “… I was determined. I was like, I can’t have my parents pay for it (college). I don’t want that burden on them.”

The recent Honors College Leadership Conference helped those students build connections with business professionals and better prepare themselves for the future. “I think it was a great opportunity to meet established individuals in the various fields, whether it be business or different markets of leadership, but also meeting other motivated individuals that are students as well,” Honors student Elisha Fronda said.

A mid-February trip to New York gave 11 Honors College students the opportunity to meet other young adults from around the world and discuss world issues. They also got to see some of the city’s most iconic destinations. “It was a very incredible experience. It was worth it,” Sara Cordero said. “It was just a really great opportunity to just listen to professionals all over the world and how they all tackle these humanitarian issues.”

TEDxGCU drew a sellout crowd to Ethington Theatre and more praise for how the students manage the annual event. Most evident was the way they increased their coaching of the speakers, who truly appreciated it. “I didn’t view them as students. I just viewed it as a professional providing me with very valuable feedback, constructive feedback, on how I can better my story,” said one of the speakers, Amy Kao.