Breanna Naegeli

Honors College sophomore Esmeralda Gomez earned a prestigious internship at TGen this summer and for eight weeks joined students from around the country, including Ivy League schools, in researching possible cures and treatments for a rare form of ovarian cancer. “It was just really cool. There was just never any competition between us — it was all about growth,” she said.

The Honors College, which started as a student community of 59 in 2013, has grown to become GCU’s ninth college and this fall welcomed more than 1,000 freshmen, bringing its total to more than 2,250 with no signs of slowing down. “As the culture shifts year after year, as we get these new waves of exceptional leaders coming in, each year can look like a completely different story,” Associate Dean Breanna Naegeli said.

When Brian Mucyo was 6, his parents had to send their son to a country more medically equipped to care for the deterioration of his vision. With only 10% visibility left in his left eye and a prosthetic eye for his right, Mucyo lived in Belgium for several years before moving to America to complete high school and eventually enroll at GCU. Now he’s an Honors College student and uses the skills he has developed in his travels (specifically, the four languages he now speaks fluently) to help other international students create the confidence to speak and learn English.

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.

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.”

Kara Morrow is the first GCU Honors College student to be selected for a White House internship. The 2018 graduate is surrounded by exceptional students. Her sister, Kelsey, is a 2015 GCU graduate slated to complete chiropractor school in May, and her brother, Kaleb, a GCU freshman, is a National Merit Finalist and an aspiring forensic scientist.