How much do you know about Ethiopia? Not much? Well, I didn’t know much about the United States when I arrived in Seattle from Ethiopia seven years ago. But today, even though it still takes effort, I can walk between my two worlds, being a successful student and a campus ambassador at my community college and then speaking Amharic and observing Ethiopian customs at home with my grandmother.

I’m an immigrant from Ethiopia who, as a junior in high school, decided to go to Highline Community College through the Running Start Program. As you may know, Running Start allows capable high school students to attend college classes and receive college credit while still in high school. I did this because I wanted more challenging classes and because I wanted to graduate from high school a year early. Once I got to the college, I learned that, with proper planning and with help from the honors program advisor at Highline, my family and the Upward Bound advisors I was able to receive my AA degree and my high school diploma in spring of 2005.

The best thing that happened to me in college, besides setting better goals, is discovering the Highline Honors Scholar Program and the Honors 100 course. The Honors 100 instructor, Barbara Clinton, made me realize that being different could actually work to my advantage. With the help of my family, my Upward Bound instructor, and Barbara Clinton, I’m considering a career in Public Health. As an immigrant from a third world country, I want and need to be involved in the movement to educate African countries about deadly diseases such as AIDS and other epidemics.

With the support of a generous diversity scholarship, I will enroll at Whitman College for fall of 2005. Whitman has a study abroad program, which I plan to take advantage of while I’m there. I will take advantage of the exchange programs in Kenya or Botswana. I’m hoping going to an African country will provide me with the hands on experience with what I want to do for the rest of my life.