For over 25 years the Broward College (BC) Honors Institute has been advancing the education of students on campus. One of the main objectives of the institute is to get students involved in the growth of not only the program, but the school.
Ramin Gozleveli, a member of the Honors Student Committee (HSC), was recently Honors Student of the Month for February. Gozleveli, a biology major planning to graduate in the summer, has received the title based upon his hard work and commitment to the program. Dr. Lulrick Balzora, the coordinator for the Honors Institute, explained that Gozleveli is being recognized for his dedication to the community, raising money for scholarships and fundraisers, and working to provide different ideas to the Honors Institute.
“Winning the award [took] a lot of effort, hard work and dedication, but it made me feel great and really appreciated,” said Gozleveli. He considers the program to have been more of a team effort, rather than an individual one. “The best part of being an honors student is working with a diverse group of people that have a lot of skills to contribute. As a group we get things done,” he said.
Some of the contributions that the HSC make for the college include participating in organizations around the community, helping the campus staff complete various projects around school, volunteering at different hospitals and speaking elementary school students on the importance of education.
“Almost all of the people who attend Broward College are a part of the community,” said Mazen Mbayed, an international business major and honors student at BC. “We are the people who will continue to help in the growth of the community by helping out and creating pride in the community,” he added.
Mbayed, who is currently in his last semester at BC, has watched the honors program grow and evolve over his time at the college. “The Honors Institute hasn’t grown on its own; it’s been each student working together and building this institution,” he said. He later explained that along with the help of the students, people like Dr. Irmgard Bocchino, the assistant vice president of the Honors Institute, made the enrollment even more successful.
Bocchino has been the assistant vice president of the Honors Institute for nine years. When she first took the position at the Honors Institute, there were only 300 students in the program. Currently there are over 1,200 honors students at BC and the numbers continue to grow.
Scholarships for the students are a high priority to Bocchino. Her goal for the honors program is to allow more scholarship support for honors students and to increase the scholar’s income. The scholarship funds will not only be set up for deserving honors students, but will also be utilized by those honors students who are studying abroad, traveling with the school national and participating in the college’s Brain Bowl.
The prospective renditions are a part of Bocchino’s “vision plan” for the Honors Institute. Her plan is to create multiple layers of scholarship support which will be made possible through more funding. BC currently offers several scholarships for full-time and even part-time honors students.
The new scholarships that will be added to the program serve as an incentive to entice more students to join.
Honors students are constantly trying to increase donor support for the Honors Institute. They voluntarily present art, poetry and writings to showcase their talent and participate in competitions through the institute.
Bocchino admits she hasn’t done it alone. “I have worked with wonderful people,” she admitted, “We all worked together to make this happen. I’m really excited and there is [still] more to be done.”For more info about the Honors Institute, Click Here.”
