Karina Gonzalez
For honors student Vaughan Gendelman, 29-year-old anthropology major, the Honors Program is the conduit toward his point of destination.”I’m glad there’s an Honors Program,” said Gendelman. “It’s a nice way to ensure that I get into UCLA [University of California, Los Angeles].”Having learned about the program from a friend last year, Gendelman is confident that he is prepared to forge ahead and face new challenges along with his peers in the program.The Pierce College Honors Program, with more than 800 students, is among the best in California and the biggest in the Los Angeles Community College District, according to Program Director Barbara Anderson.Compared to other transfer schools, the Pierce Honors Program sets higher academic standards that consistently exhibit positive results indicating its success, thus proving that it belongs among the best. For instance, the Pierce Honors Program brochure says: “After transfer, former Pierce students do better at UCLA than any other community college students.”That is because the program’s goal is to prepare honors students for upper division courses. Seeing that it aims to stretch the student’s academic boundaries, the honors courses are often thought of as classes “on steroids.”For example, Anthropology Professor Dr. Noble Eisenlauer assigns 20-plus-page papers in his classes. This is due to his philosophy that the students should be prepared for upper division courses and beyond.All writing assignments are designed in the same manner that is used at top universities such as UCLA and Stanford. Because of his teaching experiences at both, Eisenlauer knows what will pass or fail at the four-year universities. His goal is to teach the fundamental research skills that are needed to excel even at graduate schools.The extra workload and the substantial writing assignments may sound daunting and cast doubts for some students about entering the Honors Program. However, the benefits in completing the program and receiving the certificate outweigh the negatives.Honors students are privy to some opportunities that are not available for others.Every November, Pierce rents a bus for the honors students and drives down to UCLA to attend the UCLA TAP/Transfer Conference and talk with UCLA academic counselors and student program representatives.They learn details about how to apply for a scholarship, worth up to $5,000, known as the Transfer Alliance Program (TAP) among other things.Since Pierce continues to maintain well-established relationships with prestigious universities such as UCLA and the University of California, Irvine, the honors students have a great chance of being accepted to one of the top schools.Additionally, a system called “priority consideration” places the honors students’ applications in the front and boosts their chances of being admitted. Approximately 90 percent of honors students get accepted to one of the schools of their choice, according to Anderson.Though most apply to UCLA and UCI, their choices of schools are wide and varied, stretching from coast to coast.Some former Pierce Honors Students have been admitted to the University of California, Berkeley and as far away as New York University.”Trust me, guys. You’ll be thankful that you did this,” said Chris Lauterdale, an Honors Program senior office assistant and former Pierce honors student in the 1990s.Lauterdale is a strong proponent of the program and looks forward to those who wants to get in.”Come and see me,” Lauterdale said. She is eager to answer any questions about the program.Students must be aware that there are strict guidelines for applying to the Honors Program. Some of the requirements include: a 3.25 grade point average in all U.C. transferable units, being eligible for English 101 and having completed a minimum of 12 units. The program is open to high school students, too. Every semester, the Pierce College Outreach representatives travel to local high schools to tell juniors and seniors about the Fast-Track Honors Program, among other opportunities.The UCLA-supported program allows high school students to transfer to UCLA after just a single year of full-time study at Pierce, according to the Fast-Track Honors Program web page.English as a Second Language (ESL) students have successfully completed the Honors Program in the past.For Program Director Barbara Anderson, the Honors Program is a way to bring together a like-minded people and share the joy of learning, something akin to the words spoken by Gandhi: “Live as if today is your last; learn as if you’ll live forever.”For details about the Honors Program, go to:http://www.piercecollege.com/students/honors/index.aspxPhone: (818) 710-2524 or (818) 710-2888Fax: (818) 710-4237