Story 7

Stephanie Daniels Begins Her College Career at ARCC

            Stephanie Daniels is an incoming student with high goals and is looking for opportunity at Anoka-Ramsey Community College (ARCC).

            Daniels is a 16-year-old Post Secondary Enrollment Option Program (PSEO) student and is interested in becoming a veterinarian technician. PSEO is a program where the state of Minnesota pays for juniors and seniors in high school to go to college.

             One of the reasons Daniels wants to go to ARCC is because it will help her in her goal of becoming a veterinarian technician. “If I go to ARCC, my burden in years and money towards receiving my vet tech degree will be significantly shortened,” Daniels explained.

            In fact, Daniels real passion lies with horses. She is thinking about going farther than her vet tech degree and getting a specialist equine veterinarian degree. As Daniels explained, “I’ve had the privilege of working with horses at a local horse ranch for the past seven years, and I consider it to be one of the most enjoyable parts of my week.”

            Daniels is particularly interested in ARCC for several reasons. One of those reasons is the opportunity that ARCC offers through PSEO. “I’ve seen the incredible opportunities that it has provided my brother with, and I figured that if I could get my generals done there while in high school, I would be that much ahead of everybody else.” Daniels went on to point out how she thinks more people should participate in PSEO because it’s a program that allows people to advance in life.

            Location is also a big factor in Daniels’ decision to attend ARCC. ARCC is only a 15-minute drive from her house. “Being that close to my house will allow me to me to be involved on the horse farm as well as my church and high school, which will be a huge plus while I attend ARCC.”

            English classes and Science classes interest Daniels the most. She is also interested in any agricultural or animal classes that will help her with her future goals. As Daniels put it, “I realize the importance of science courses to my degree in veterinarian science, so I’m going to try my best to immerse myself in science classes that will help me.” Other than that, Daniels is going to focus on fulfilling her generals and high school requirements for graduation.

            Daniels is interested in getting involved in not only her classes at ARCC, but also the extracurricular activities that ARCC has to offer.

            “I would love the opportunity to be involved in the choir program at ARCC along with the Hearts Ablaze Christian group,” Daniels stated. “I also love animals and would consider joining any group involved with animals,” Daniels continued.

            Daniels also has some hopes about what ARCC will be like. She explained how she hopes that the faculty will be friendly and accommodating. “There’s nothing worse than teachers who aren’t willing to help or who do help but make you feel stupid,” Daniels pointed out. However, Daniels continued to say that she doesn’t have very many worries about this because she’s heard that the instructors are pretty easy to work with.

            Likewise, Daniels is also hoping that the ARCC students will be friendly as well. She wants to be able to make friends there so that she doesn’t have to associate ARCC only with school. Several of her friends go to ARCC though, so she isn’t too concerned about that. 

            In fact, Daniels realizes that one of the biggest parts in college is getting involved and getting to know people. As Daniels puts it, “It’s one thing to go to college and just complete all the course work and then go on with your life, but it’s a whole new and interesting ball game if you can go there and actually get involved. That’s how college memories are made, and that’s what I want to do.”

            Furthermore, Daniels is interested in the English classes at ARCC partly because of her love of reading. Daniels loves to read all sorts of books. Some of the more common genres she reads include romance and fantasy. Daniels is hoping to find some good English classes that will foster her love of reading even more.

            Daniels is looking forward to her future at ARCC. As Daniels noted, “I want to make sure that I don’t see my time at ARCC as simply an obstacle to get past. I’d rather see it as an opportunity for me to develop skills that will help me down the road in life, particularly in my current goal of becoming a vet tech.”

###