Quinn McRae '12
Honors Student; Theatre Arts Major

"With Catawba's Honors Program, it's not about taking harder classes for the sake of taking harder classes. It's about interesting subjects and rare opportunities. In my second semester here, I was studying the connections between the Harry Potter series and philosophy, religion, science, science fiction and everything else under the sun that can be communicated through literature. In my next semester, I will study food science, production, chemical properties, and cultural traditions. As fortune (or maybe just great planning) would have it, this class — Eating in the Arts and Sciences — requires a culinary tour through Italy over spring break. All it takes is one class to realize that you do what you are driven to do in the honors program."

Mackenzie Westbrook '12
Honors Student; Theatre Major

"I love being involved in the Honors College because of the unique classes and the opportunities they offer. In only one year I have already traveled abroad to Ireland with the Honors program and had an amazing time! I look forward to my honors classes because I know the teachers enjoy teaching them and the students are genuinely excited to learn and explore. The Honors College has been a great experience for me so far and I cannot wait to see what it holds for the future."

Zach McRae '12
Honors Student; Theatre Arts Major

"I have so enjoyed my experience with the honors program, largely because in our program, an 'honors' course doesn't just mean higher level, it means broader on all levels. I can learn in the course of a year, for example,  the sociological and literary perspective behind the Harry Potter novel series, and  the chemical, artistic and professional perspectives on food and eating. And thanks to the Foreign Study program, I can get financial aid for required trips to Italy, London, or wherever a course may take me."

Claire Robinson '12
Honors Student; Theatre Major

"Coming from a small high school for gifted and talented students, I was thrilled to join Catawba's Honors program for my first year of college. The classes are unique and fascinating, the professors really care about their subjects and students, and my peers are just as excited and ready to talk as I am. Each class session is an unexpected experience — the discussion setting really allows for a wide variety of opinions to be expressed and forces you to stretch your brain and the boundaries of your thinking. The Honors program is absolutely one of the best things about Catawba."

Sarah Robinson '12
Honors Student; Environmental Science Major

"There is nothing quite so deserving of the phrase 'well-rounded' on Catawba's campus as the Honors Program. It's full of students from many different majors and with a plethora of different interests. This is what makes classes in the Honors program so much fun and so different from any other class offered. Everyone not only wants to be in class but has a different outlook on the topic at hand."

Sarah Morse '12
Honors Student; Elementary Education (K-6) Major

"Honors! I love the honors program because I get to take classes with people who are as interested and motivated as I am. We go on cool field trips — for instance, we went to the local planetarium for my First Year Seminar 'Native American Cultures' to learn about their star stories while 'actually' looking at the sky. Conversations in an honors class are always fast paced, intellectually interesting and will connect to a variety of topics. You might start talking about viruses and how they are transmitted along with potential for global pandemics and have zombies enter the conversation (is it a virus that changes them?). Honors classes always provide a variety of perspectives and a challenge!"

Suzanne Williams '13
Honors Student

"I like the Honor’s Program at Catawba because it has given me the opportunity to take classes that I would not normally take with other students who are just as motivated as I am about their education. Not only is everyone highly motivated, but each student also has a totally opinion about the topic that we may be discussing that day. I know that my professors expect great work from me; these high expectations and my fellow students are reasons that I work harder every day."

Maura Pantone '13
Honors Student

"I like the Honors Program at Catawba College because it gives me a chance to have classes with students who are not only motivated to learn, but love learning. I am able to get so much more out of the honors classes than I would be able to get in a normal classroom environment. Also, the variety of classes offered in the Honors Program is great. There is a wide variety of different and unique types of classes available."