Middlesex Honors Students Inspired by Yale Visit

Oct 23, 2017 – New Haven, Conn. — On Oct. 17, 2017, 19 Middlesex Community College Honors Program students visited Yale University to find inspiration from the Ivy League school and enhance their academic potential. Throughout the two-year, flexible program, MxCC honors students hone the leadership, academic, and professional skills necessary for transfer and future success. Field trips like this provide an added benefit.

Associate Professor of English Eva Jones, PhD, coordinator of the program, and an admissions tour guide from Yale led the students on a private tour of the main campus, which included residence halls, the Yale Art Gallery, the Beinecke Library, and the main library.

“Honors students take their studies and leadership experiences beyond the confines of MxCC’s campus community. This helps them make a greater impact no matter where they go after graduation and/or transfer from MxCC. Nearly every trip we plan bears some academic and cultural component. Most students in the program plan on transferring, so we try to take students to tour college or university campuses, especially when a number are interested in making application to a particular institution. While some of our honors students are interested in making application to Yale, Yale University’s rich history and abundant resources may come in handy to all of our students at some point in their future,” explained Professor Jones.

“I’m impressed by the sense of community and the way campus buildings and residence halls are situated. The residence halls face inward and encourage students from different majors to interact with each other,” noticed Natasha Ramos, a criminal justice MxCC student from Meriden, Conn. “Also, you can see that the students are just like us, making me wonder, maybe I have chance to go there one day,” she added.

Business administration major Jeremy Boughton of Middlefield was inspired by the history of the school. “This was my first time visiting Yale. The architecture is beautiful. The experience gave me a feeling of what it might be like to live on a campus, as well as the motivation to keep my grades up,” he said.

Hannah Policard, a general studies student from Meriden, also enjoyed learning about Yale’s history and little-known facts about the Yale’s traditions that the tour guide pointed out.

Middlesex honors students are highly motivated and interested in broadening their skills sets. They serve as leaders on campus and in their communities, making MxCC a first-choice destination for these students.

The Yale field trip was made possible by the recent establishment of the Dr. Anna Wasescha Honors Program Fund, named in recognition of the former MxCC president who returned to her home state of Minnesota last May. President Wasescha’s dedication was instrumental in supporting the vision of the program during her tenure at the College.

Wherever they go, graduates and transfers from the Honors Program are ready and poised for their future. To learn more about the Honors Program at Middlesex Community College, visit https://mxcc.edu/learning-options/honors-program.

Oct. 23, 2017