51°µÍř

English major Annie Ucci, a sophomore from Chillicothe, Ohio, has had memorable experiences as a member of the Honors Program at 51°µÍř.

“The Honors Program is an amazing way to enrich your experience as a college student here at 51°µÍř,” she said. “It is all about pushing yourself with the experiences the program has to offer. These are opportunities and experiences that you wouldn’t get otherwise.”

In the Honors Program, Ucci has been able to participate in events that are designed to build community among its members and expand educational opportunities. So far she has participated in movie nights, educational trips to expand knowledge, pizza parties, and getting to hang out with friends at events like the Welcome Back event that the Honors Program hosts at the beginning of every semester.

“Our professor, Dr. Salinas, does a great job of organizing events for the Honors Program,” Ucci explained. “He really knows how to hold the program together and is working on getting guest speakers to come to Shawnee State to speak to those in the Honors Program.”

As a member of the program, Ucci has been grateful to see how the programs benefits broaden her college experience while not drastically changing her degree requirements. 

“We don't have to take any advanced courses as a part of our being in the program, but it is required that we take 9-12 credit hours of Honors conferences,” she said. “These are projects we take on with chosen faculty members on a topic related to their area of expertise. The projects are often an expansion of classes we've taken previously.”

Ucci cited a recent example of her taking a conference on the author Toni Morrison with SSU’s Dr. Janet Feight, expanding on papers Ucci has written about Morrison’s novels from previous classes. Honors students present their conference findings at the end of the semester during the Honors Symposium.

 “I will say, the activities we do as Honors students expands on the classes and helps us learn more about them,” she said.

Ucci was also able to use a field trip to the Dominican Republic, which she was taking as part of a Spanish class, to fulfill her experiential learning requirement for the Honors Program. The trip helped expand her Spanish knowledge and gave her a better education in Spanish that she otherwise wouldn’t have gotten if it weren’t for that trip.

“This has even helped me understand more of what I study as an English major,” she said. “The different language constructs compared to one another has really been a big enrichment in my experience in the Honors Program.”

Students in the Honors Program have several unique opportunities including priority course registration, research and study abroad funding, and educational trips to allow students to expand their opportunities and take advantage of every learning avenue that can prepare them for their future career. 

To learn more about the Honors Program at 51°µÍř, visit shawnee.edu/honors.