Middlesex Community College: MCC Honors Student Wins MA Student Employee Of The Year Award

Press release from the Middlesex Community College:

Caitlin Buckley

3/24/2021

Middlesex Community College student Caleb Chin won the 2021 Massachusetts Student Employee of the Year Award from the National Student Employment Association. An MCC Commonwealth Honors Program (CHP) student and Computer Science major, Chin was recognized for this achievement among two-year and four-year college students across the state.

For the past five semesters, Chin has been working as a Computer Science Supplemental Instruction (SI) Leader and Peer Tutor for MCC’s Academic Centers for Enrichment (ACE). Through his work supporting students, he gets to learn about different subjects while further developing his communication and leadership skills. The experience has also taught him how to balance school with other responsibilities.

“I am honored and delighted to receive the MA Student Employee of the Year Award,” Chin said. “Being a student employee for the ACE department has been a wonderful and rewarding experience. I am happy that I had the opportunity to help my fellow students and give back to the MCC community. I am truly grateful for the many mentors and great friends that I have met throughout my time in the ACE department and I thank them for guiding me to where I am today.”

Chin was nominated for the award by Christine Bell, MCC’s Assistant Director for ACE. Calling him “one of the finest examples of an ACE student employee,” Bell is impressed by the ways Chin motivates students, is dedicated to his work, and has flourished in his role. Among the responsibilities Chin has handled, Bell lists becoming an SI Mentor, facilitating training workshops, participating on a career panel, and creating engaging supplemental materials.

“Caleb has grown tremendously,” Bell said. “Caleb adds his perspective and shows different ways to think about getting to the answer and many students credit their success due to his tutoring support. He is deeply committed to helping his peers achieve academic success and I am so proud of Caleb for being recognized as MA Student Employee of the Year.”

From California and now living in Lowell, Chin started at Middlesex in the Dual Enrollment program to complete his studies as a home schooled student. Through Dual Enrollment, he was able to take different classes to help him figure out what he wanted to study. In his third semester at MCC, he enrolled as a full-time student and will graduate with an associate degree in Computer Science in May 2021.

In his classes and at the college as a whole, Chin believes there is a “fantastic student community” with many opportunities for academic and professional development. Inspired by the “hardworking and curious students” in his classes, he turned his slight interest in Computer Science into a passion for programming at MCC.

As he has been studying at Middlesex through the pandemic, most of his recent courses have been online. His experience has been positive, and Chin believes his professors have adapted well to the online environment and have provided him and his classmates with a quality education.

Another benefit of attending MCC has been the honors program where Chin is learning valuable knowledge and skills to prepare him for his next steps in transferring to a four-year college or university. Through the program, he has taken a variety of classes with different professors who have honed his research skills – from finding and citing his sources, to pulling the information together into a paper. He has also improved his writing and presentation abilities, both in his classes and at the CHP research conference held each year.

“It was important for me to participate in the Commonwealth Honors Program not only to challenge myself academically, but also to explore a wide range of academic topics with a group of passionate and driven students,” he said. “The CHP has helped me prepare for the future by priming me with the skills to succeed in the academic world.”

At MCC, honors students will be recognized as CHP scholars at Commencement, participate in upper-level seminars, and receive membership in a community for academically talented, like-minded students to develop their fullest potential. The CHP at Middlesex strives to foster an environment that nurtures students’ integrity, honesty, perseverance, academic achievement, independence, intellectual curiosity, self-reliance and a collaborative spirit.

MCC’s Computer Science Honors Track is the first for a STEM field and allows Computer Science majors to take honors courses and graduate as honors scholars. Students take three honors courses in place of electives and present at the Honors Poster Conference in the spring to present their research projects.

Students who participate in MCC’s CHP must have at least a 3.2 GPA upon applying and receive guaranteed transfer to any of the honors programs and colleges in the Mass. university system, enhanced prospects for acceptance to private four-year schools, and increased opportunities for scholarships. Visit www.middlesex.mass.edu/honors/ for more information.

Part of the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) pathway, MCC’s Computer Science program helps students go into – and succeed in – the workforce or transfer to four-year schools with its award-winning and affordable offerings, small class sizes and flexible schedules. Visit https://www.middlesex.mass.edu/discover/dyp_stem.aspx for more information and to discover your path to a degree in STEM at Middlesex.

Registration for MCC’s Spring Mini-mester II and Summer 2021 sessions are now open. To register, visit www.middlesex.mass.edu/registration/ or call 1-800-818-3434.

Discover your path at Middlesex Community College. As one of the largest, most comprehensive community colleges in Massachusetts, MCC has been a proven leader in online education for more than 20 years. We educate, engage and empower a diverse community of learners, offering more than 80 degree and certificate programs – plus hundreds of noncredit courses. Middlesex Community College: Student success starts here!

This press release was produced by the Middlesex Community College. The views expressed here are the author’s own.