Graduate Essays - Fatima Ahmed: Every opportunity I discovered, I attempted to take advantage of

I started taking classes at Elgin Community College to escape my high school. My freshman year of high school was stolen by COVID and replaced with Zoom meetings, and sophomore year left me feeling like I didn’t want the ‘high school experience’ of petty dramas and sitting through boring classes from 7:30 am to 3 pm. When the chance came to join ECC’s dual credit program full-time as a junior, I didn’t hesitate to latch onto it, hoping to escape the unfortunate first and last year of a real high school experience.

I didn’t expect much of ECC, especially since I had heard little about it. However, in an effort to act alongside my mindset of ‘new school, new me,’ I entered excited yet neutral with the simple goal of having better experiences than my past two years. ECC began to exceed my expectations quickly. Dozens of intriguing classes, such as Principles of Biology with Professor Vogt, began to make me look forward to attending school.

In all these classes, I met many unique people, from dual credit students of different backgrounds to insightful parents back in school after years. Every opportunity I discovered, I attempted to take advantage of, ranging from founding the Dual Credit Connections Club to conducting research mentored by Professor Arturo Vazquez as part of the second cohort of ECC’s Center of Undergraduate Research, Innovation, and Creativity (CURIC) to claiming one of ECC’s free stuffed animals during their 75th-anniversary celebration.

Looking back, I don’t believe that the high school hosted bad experiences; instead, my mindset allowed for pessimistic occurrences. I feel that my two years at ECC have positively evolved my mindset. Surrounded by an environment of students and faculty who wish to succeed, adopting that mindset helped develop me into who I am today.

If I could go back, I would, without a doubt, choose dual credit at ECC again. From the moment sixteen-year-old me stepped into ECC to when I am typing this, these two years at ECC have helped me grow my academic and social skills, traits, and habits. In a bittersweet way, I am grateful for all the people I’ve met and the memories I’ve made at ECC.

I am excited to move on to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign as a neural engineering major.

Thank you, ECC, for leaving a life-long impact on me and prospective students, especially dual credit students; the best experiences are made, not found, so don’t be scared to begin something new.

Fatima Ahmed ‘24

Associate in Science

Carpentersville, Ill.

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