What is it like being part of an Honors Community?

What is it like being part of an Honors Community?

We caught up with 28 CSULA students admitted into the General Education Honors Program—which will expand into an independent Honors College next fall—to find out what it is like to be part of a competitive academic program where critical thinking, community engagement and creative leadership are cultivated. The students were on a walking tour of Los Angeles’ Chinatown Cal State L.A. TODAY caught up with them. (Click here to see a slideshow.)

  • Michael Mattice
    Honors Program Freshman, Psychology

    “It makes me feel an overwhelming sense of excitement and reverent equality between my professors, and it’s wonderful. I’ve never experienced anything like this.”

  • Tiffany Chen
    Honors Program Freshman, Business and English

    “Everyone is already willing to be so friendly. The thing is, when you are in an honors program…they all believe in the hard work; and it’s just nice to know that other people are as hard working as you in these classes.”

  • Moises Olavarrieta
    Honors Program, Anthropology

    “Growing up you always hear that once you are in college you are on your own, that once you are in college, no one is going to be there to help you, but this just kind of shows the opposite. There are good people out there that want to help you do something with your life and help you succeed.”

  • Philomena Pirrone
    Honors Program Freshman, Nutritional Science

    “I chose to be part of the Honors College program because it’s more of a smaller community and you get to know everyone better, and they give you more opportunities to be a part of the L.A. community and helping others. Right now, we are walking through Chinatown and we’re discovering and learning about all the history of Chinatown, and it’s really interesting because a lot of the stuff I didn’t know.”

  • Gabrielle Alvarado
    Honors Program Freshman, Nursing

    “I’m really happy to be a part of the Honors Program because I think it keeps us focused. It’s smaller classrooms and one-on-one with each other.”

  • Ricardo Moreno
    Honors Program Freshman, Math

    “It’s really cool to be part of the Honors Community because like all of these people here are going to be in the same classes, so we can kind of talk to each other and collaborate, and we won’t get lost on the first day of school. … And it’s a small class, so we are all going to be together and there will be a lot more discussion. My old school was small too, so it’s going to help me transition.”

  • Xiaoying Jiang
    Honors Program Freshman, Biochemistry

    “I feel really lucky to be in the Honors Community because you get to meet your classmates just way before and you then you get a good connection with them. I feel like everyone is on the same pace as I am, whether it’s academically or any other field that you might have. You just meet a lot of new people before, and it's really nice.”