Honors Academy student accepted to Columbia University

作为一名在美国的水手.S. Navy, 美国东部时间evon Dehoyos saw a lot of the world during his four-year hitch. But it's his success in the Honors Academy program at 圣安东尼奥

大学 that's propelling him to his next big destination – Columbia University in New York City.

Dehoyos, 24, has been accepted to the university's School of General Studies, 他打算在哪里学习工商管理. A 圣安东尼奥 native and the youngest of six children, he is the first member of his family to attend an Ivy League school.

“这对我来说就像一场梦，”德霍约斯说.      

Dehoyos joined the Navy after graduating from LEE High School in 2017. 在巡洋舰和登陆舰服役期间, 德霍约斯被派往越南, 关岛, 夏威夷, 和危地马拉.           

After leaving the service, Dehoyos returned to 圣安东尼奥 and enrolled at SAC. An advisor in the college's TRIO program for veterans directed him toward the Honors Academy, where Dehoyos quickly bonded with his teachers and fellow students.

"You go through a bunch of honors classes with the same group of people and you get to build a relationship with them,德霍约斯说. “有一种同志情谊."

The Honors Academy focuses on courses in the college's core curriculum by creating additional assignments that give students a deeper understanding of each subject and more chance for exploration. Students must apply for acceptance in the program, maintain a 3.25 GPA or higher, and complete a final Capstone project in their fourth semester.

Laurie Lopez Coleman教授, 荣誉学院院长, 他说，该项目目前有大约275名学生. SAC的平均入学人数约为2万人. Coleman said most students who apply to the Honors Academy are accepted, 但有些人最终拒绝了邀请.

"When students hear 'honors' a lot of them think, 'Oh my gosh, it's harder,'" she said. “我不需要再用力了. 大学已经够难的了.'"

Tougher coursework, however, is only part of the equation at the Honors Academy. The program also offers a place where students can drop in, work with classmates and spend some one-on-one time with faculty advisors.

"It's a little space for for them so that they can come in and feel like they belong to the campus,科尔曼说。. “当然, they can go to the library or find a building out there someplace where there's a table, but our center is really supposed to be a welcoming place for them to feel grounded at the college."

德霍约斯说的地方感, 支持, and personal interaction in the Honors Academy helped him succeed.

"They helped me believe in myself by pointing me in the direction where I needed to go," he said.

An indifferent student in high school, Dehoyos flourished at SAC, both academically and personally. 除了学习之外, he worked as a volunteer on campus and helped set up school events and pop-up food markets for the 圣安东尼奥 Food Bank. He also mentored several of his Honors Academy classmates.

"I was able to give something back to the school,德霍约斯说. “我真的很喜欢."

Coleman said graduation time at SAC is "always a mixed blessing" when students like Dehoyos move on to the next chapter in their lives.

"You get to know them and you get to see them every day, almost like your own kids," she said. "And then they take this leap and you know that they're going on to something even more profound.

"It makes everything that you've done to invest in them worth it. 它让你感到骄傲."

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