Clubs, organizations and schools often shy away from attending national events due to costs or registration and long-distance travel. But this semester Honors students from Arizona Western College aren't the kind to let such mundane obstacles deter them.

On Oct. 20, three lucky Honors students from AWC tagged along to Phoenix with Honors Program Director Ted Martinez to attend the national conference of the National Collegiate Honors Council (NCHC), where they met with Honors students, directors and advisors from around the country.

A national event

This year the prestigious NCHC convention, featuring dozens of sessions on program development, recruitment and various innovative ideas, came to Arizona from Oct. 19-23.

"It's great for Honors students to meet other people from around the country and be exposed to a broad range of scholarly ideas," said Dr. Martinez. "It's very important to know what other honors programs around the country are doing and get ideas from those programs."

This year's theme, "Stewards of Our Colliding Worlds: Rights, Wrongs, and Responsibilities," was developed to emphasize the notion that honors education is not just about book work, but it also entails being a responsible leader in the present and future. The sessions reflected this theme, showcasing the ways other college and university honors programs operate effectively, as well as any weaknesses they might need to address.

Changing lives

"It was truly a wonderful experience," said AWC Honors student Maya Robnett. "Every discussion presented during the sessions was interesting."

Robnett added that she enjoyed the session on portfolio development and views it as a skill every student should gain in their education. Overall, her favorite part was just spending time with her fellow Honors students.

This conference not only enriched the lives of the Honors members who attended, but it also allowed them to see how other programs work and how those ideas can be incorporated into AWC's program.

"Great learning occurs outside the classroom and I want to institutionalize that into honors curriculum," Martinez said.

Thinking ahead

Now that the conference is over, Martinez is thinking ahead to the future.

"I would like to attend the conference in Boston next year," Martinez said. "I would like to bring students with me to present a cool service-learning project they did here at AWC."

For more information on the Honors Program, Martinez encourages those interested to stop by the Honors Center in LR 86 or e-mail him at ted.martinez@azwestern.edu.