News Article

FSW Graduate Fully Embraced College Experience

May 12, 2016

Embracing new experiences is what college is all about, something no one had to explain to Florida SouthWestern State College graduate Emily Casey. With the help of academic scholarships she was able to take on all opportunities that came her way. 

A recipient of the Presidential Scholarship through FSW’s Honors Scholar Program, Emily was recognized this April as a member of the prestigious All-Florida Academic Team, one of 128 students from a total of 800,000 in the Florida State College System.

With this recognition comes a scholarship to transfer to Florida Gulf Coast University and pursue a degree in finance. She earned her A.A. in General Studies from FSW and has no student debt.

“At first I wanted to earn a business degree but I decided finance was far more employable, plus I took an accounting class and really enjoyed it” she explained. “I’m also thinking about doing a minor in Spanish.”

Besides maintaining a 3.8 grade point average, Emily set aside time to take advantage of many new experiences. She currently serves as president of the college chapter of Phi Theta Kappa (a national honor society for two-year colleges) and has logged over 200 volunteer hours in one year alone.

She completed an internship in real estate finance and is attempting to get another at a local software company, while working part-time at Publix and for the college’s Upward Bound program as a tutor. Last spring she worked 50 hours a week on top of taking 15 credit hours of classes, describing the term as “intense.”

Not wanting to miss out on a chance to learn about the world beyond Florida, Emily also registered for an honors-level comparative politics class with Dr. Bruno Baltodano. Over Spring Break the class traveled to Nicaragua and received exclusive access to meet Nicaraguan Vice President Moisés Halleslevens, as well as 1970s revolutionary leader Edén Pastora.

The eight students later met with small business owners and co-op community groups in Nicaragua. They also had a little fun by swimming in a volcano crater, touring a historical cathedral, and embarking on a zip-line adventure through the rain forest.

Each completed a research project based on the trip and shared it during honors thesis presentations on the Thomas Edison Campus this spring.  

Learn more about the Honors Scholar Program at FSW by visiting www.fsw.edu/honors and see how scholarships help our students to embrace the college life at www.fsw.edu/foundation.

Last Updated: May 12, 2016