Honors Lessons Learned Outside the Classroom

As part of the National Collegiate Honors Council’s (2022) collection of essays about the value of honors to its graduates (1967–2019), the author reflects on the personal and professional impacts of the honors experience. As an immature high schooler, I thought Honors would be a stamp of excellence on my résumé. However, I graduated Honors with a far more valuable gift—an education outside the classroom full of social and intellectual reflection and growth. At my high school, self-worth and popularity hinged on which Ivy League you got into, so my eyes were never set on LIU Post Honors. However, I considered alternatives once I received eight rejection letters in the mail. Desperation to go to any college caused me to begrudgingly ink my name on the acceptance letter to LIU Post Honors. When I attended a meeting with the Honors Director, Joan Digby, she could feel my defeated attitude, but instead of giving up on me, Joan saw my potential to grow into a person with meaningful values and a healthy drive towards success. She looked past my arrogance and played into my desire for impressive résumé builders by listing what I could do in Honors: study abroad at Cambridge University, free travel and immersion in national parks, and graduation in three years