“I always had big dreams for my future, but I didn’t have the sense of direction I needed to get there,” the 17-year-old explained. “Then Early College High School [Impact] came around. Nothing had ever been done like this before, and at first I was the only one who wanted to try it.”

“That’s true, she was the only one,” 16-year-old Pablo Chavez added. “I wasn’t really interested in coming [to Impact] at first. I live and breathe soccer and I wanted to play in high school. But my Mom told me I needed to think about what would be best for my future. We had a tight group of friends, so we told Azalia, if you go, we’ll go.”

Their decision will soon be a cause for celebration. On Saturday, May 11, Sprecher and Chavez will become two of the first Impact Early College High School students to earn associate degrees at Lee College — prior to earning their high school diplomas — and participate in the college’s annual commencement exercises.

Impact student Alondra Uribe has also completed her associate degree one year early, but is choosing to “walk” with her classmates during the May 2014 exercises.

Established in 2010, and funded by a $455,500 grant from the Texas Education Agency (TEA), Impact is part of a national initiative seeking to raise high school graduation and post-secondary success rates of underserved youth.

The school, which was developed in partnership with the Goose Creek Consolidated Independent School District (GCCISD), and is housed on both the GCCISD and Lee College campuses, engages students in a rigorous and supportive academic program blending high school and college work. Enrollment is contingent upon the completion of an application, essay submission and interview process. Tuition is free.

Upon completing the program, students graduate with a high school diploma and associate degree, or 60 college credit hours toward a baccalaureate degree.

But for self-proclaimed “over-achievers” Sprecher and Chavez, the experience has been about much more than a degree.

“In junior high, getting good grades was easy for us,” Chavez explained. “We didn’t have to work very hard, and we always heard that,“just wait till you get to college” warning.

“Here, we’ve had to learn to balance high school and college,” he continued. “We have had to be responsible for making sure we get to class on time, stay on top of assignments, and be responsible. We’ve also learned that we have to study. So it’s been a safer place to make mistakes and learn from them.”

Those lessons come easier when you have solid support group of parents, friends and teachers, Sprecher added.

“Both our high school teachers and our Lee College instructors have been incredibly supportive,” she said. “Sometimes I feel like I’m balancing two different worlds. I took my ACT exams the same weekend I was studying for my college finals. But my teachers have always been willing to work with me.

“And, being here with so many friends has also been great,” she continued. “We try to take the same classes and study together, just so we have that support system.”

Although the academic demands have been rigorous — Sprecher said she has “been pushed to (her) limits” in her pursuit of associate degrees in natural science and Spanish, and natural science, pre-engineering/math, and Spanish major, Chavez is looking at a semester of linear math, physics calculus, calculus III and economics — both argue there is more to Impact than academics.

“People have this misconception that all we do is study,” Sprecher said. “But Pablo and I are both very social people. As a group, our class has tried to make the experience at Impact as close to a normal high school experience as possible. We had a powder puff football game this year, we have a talent show coming up, and we’re trying to plan a Prom next year.”

“We also do volunteer work on weekends,” Chavez added. “And if you can get college classes to work around your schedule, you can even play high school sports.

“You just have to learn to balance, and sometimes go without sleep,” he added, laughing.

According to Chavez and Sprecher, the sleepless nights are a small price to pay for their future — for him, an aspiration to pursue an engineering degree at the University of Texas; for her, a degree in biochemistry from Baylor University — and the message they intend to leave behind.

“This is the first college graduation ceremony my family members will go to,” Sprecher said. “And I know it makes my family, especially my mother, very, very proud.”

“Impact has broken social norms,” Chavez said. “Most of us are minorities from working class families. I came here from Mexico when I was young. Most people think because you’re different or because you don’t have much money, you’re set to fail. But we can do it, too.”

The college opened a new Lee College Liberty Center in space donated by Geraldine D. Humphrey’s Cultural Center on June 5.

The grand opening celebration was prompted by continued economic expansion in the Liberty/Dayton area, as well as community members’ interest in bringing college services closer to residents.

“The city of Liberty is very pleased to enter into this partnership with Lee College,” said Liberty Mayor Carl Pickett. “The college has a long tradition of providing the community with a number of innovative programs and services, and with this new center, they are bringing their efforts closer to our local folks.

“We very much want this relationship to grow,” Mayor Pickett continued, “so that Lee’s presence in Liberty becomes an even larger part of what we offer our citizens and neighbors.”

Services to be provided at the center range from academic counseling, career and employment testing, and financial aid counseling, as well as professional consulting services provided by the Lee College Small Business Development Center, a non-profit professional consulting service dedicated to helping individuals start or manage their own business and fostering economic growth in the community.

“Small business is the backbone of our economy,” said Lee College Executive Director of Workforce and Community Development Debi Jordan. “When we sat down with Mayor Carl Pickett and City Manager Gary Broz to discuss how Lee College could further serve the people of the Liberty community, small business was a great place to start. The college is dedicated to supporting current and future Liberty entrepreneurs with the services of its Small Business Development Center.”

Since Jan. 2009, the Lee College SBDC’s central office — located in the JCPenney wing of Baytown’s San Jacinto Mall — has helped more than 50 entrepreneurs successfully start their businesses. These new businesses, in turn, have created nearly 200 new jobs in the Lee College service area, a trend college officials hope to extend in the outlying service area.

“The Lee College Small Business Development Center Liberty office will provide start-up assistance to individuals who are interested in starting a business and assistance to present business owners,” explained SBDC Director Steve McCorquodale. “Services to be provided at the center include free one-on-one business advising, business plan development, financial analysis, loan packaging, lending assistance, marketing services, expansion help, business workshops, exporting and importing support.

“Our vision is to one day be recognized as the leading source for providing sound business advice and training to entrepreneurs and business owners.”

The Lee College Liberty Center is located on the second floor of the Geraldine D. Humphrey’s Cultural Center, located at 1710 Sam Houston Ave in Liberty, Texas.

For additional information, call 281.425.6309.

Ilirjana Hyseni

Ilirjana Hyseni felt panic rise in her throat as the stranger approached her and asked, “Ma’am, would you please move your bags?” She stared at him blankly, trying to make sense of a language she didn’t understand, and wrestling with a question that had haunted her since she was six-years-old: “Where do I belong?”

“I was born in Kosovo, and raised with war,” the Lee College sophomore explained. “When I was six, we fled to Australia, where we stayed for about seven months before going back.

“Looking at it now, I understand that terrible time wasn’t something personal, it was something we went through as a country,” she continued. “But I was only six, and back then I just knew that they were trying to kill my family. I didn’t understand the larger picture, that it was a ‘population cleansing,’ and I wondered: “Don’t I belong here, in my own country?”

“Moving to Australia, seeing other kids spend time with friends and speaking a language I didn’t understand, was the next predicament I found myself in. Then, when we went back to Kosovo, our homes, our schools, everything was burned to the ground. We had to build a new life, and figure out where we fit.”

For Hyseni, fitting in meant selecting a high school track in music, and practicing the flute nine hours a day. “The high schools in Kosovo are much different. Students select a field they are interested in — music, medicine, math — and all of their courses are centered on that subject. For me, high school was about studying famous composers, composing my own music and practicing non-stop because the universities would only accept two flutists each year.”

Despite her rigorous schedule, Hyseni found time to volunteer at the local hospital’s oncology ward where her grandmother was a patient. The experience, she said, opened her eyes to the possibilities of medicine, and brought back that same nagging question.

“I was filling out my college application, and I decided to call my sister and [future] brother-in-law, who were both living in Houston,” she said. “I told them about volunteering at the hospital and that I was realizing a career in music wouldn’t allow me to help people the way I wanted to. Two days later they offered to help me move to the States and pursue a degree in medicine.”

Although she didn’t speak English and lacked any formal science training, Hyseni accepted the offer, making the two-day trip from Kosovo to the United States alone. She was 19.

Though intimidated by the language barrier and “how far behind [she] was in school,” Hyseni immersed herself in education, often studying up to 12 hours per day. Brushing aside momentary setbacks — including her panic at being approached by the stranger at the airport — she learned to speak English in three months and began researching educational and internship opportunities in the medical field.

Soon after arriving in Houston, she relocated to Baytown to care for an extended family member, and enrolled at Lee College, something she now calls “one of the best academic decisions I have made.”

“My brother-in-law was originally from Baytown,” she explained. “His grandmother was in the hospital when his grandfather passed away, and I just kept thinking about how hard it would be for her to adjust to her life without him, and I remembered what it was like to spend time with my grandmother when she was in the oncology ward. So I asked if there was a college in the area, and when I found out there was, I offered to stay with her for a few months while she adjusted.

“At first, I thought I’d be here a month, then maybe a semester,” she continued, “but everyone here was so accepting of me, that I just felt like I belonged.”

Thanks to this sense of home, Hyseni said, she flourished. The student who once “missed all the [English] jokes,” and was “so behind” in school made friends, enrolled in the college’s nationally acclaimed Honors Program, and became active in campus activities including the Lee College Student Ambassador program. Next month she will join more than 300 students as they walk across the stage during the college’s annual commencement exercises, to be held at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. Saturday, May 11.

After graduating, Hyseni hopes to enroll at a four-year university, then, pursue a degree in medicine at an Ivy League school with a concentration in surgery, and perhaps, one day, join an organization, such as Doctors without Borders, that will allow her to “go where [she is] needed.”

It’s her way of repaying the community she credits with changing her life.

“I’ve seen a lot of mean people in my life,” she said. “But since coming to the United States, and especially to Baytown, I’ve seen nothing but kindness. It’s so constant that sometimes I stop and ask, “Where did that come from?”

“Living in a city where all these people are trying to help you change your life,” she sighed, “for me, that is the American dream.”

• If you have already completed GOVT 2301, you can take either GOVT 2305 or GOVT 2306.
• If you have only completed GOVT 2302, you can take either GOVT 2305 or GOVT 2306, and you must take GOVT 2107.
• If you have not completed GOVT 2301 and GOVT 2302, you must complete GOVT 2305 and GOVT 2306.

Pam Warford

Lee College Director of Foundation and Donor Development Pam Warford was recently named president of the Texas Association of Community College Foundations (TACCF).

Designed for community college foundation board members, executives and volunteers, TACCF serves as a resource for best practices, relationship building between colleagues in the same industry, and offers opportunities for professional development.

There are currently 50 community colleges in Texas, 47 of which have foundations.

Warford previously served as treasurer of the organization for three years before being elected president. In her new position, she will be responsible for overseeing the organization’s strategic plan, expanding membership, organizing the annual conference and guiding board activities. Her term expires in 2015.

“For Pam to be recognized by her peers like this is so fitting,” said Mary Ann Amelang, executive director of Institutional Advancement at Lee College. “She is one of the most effective foundation directors in the nation and constantly works to ensure that the Lee College Foundation’s policies and practices are up to date and in line with best practices.  Her efforts are evident in the growth of the foundation’s corpus, which is now over $7.5 million.”