Eric

What positive impact has ACC had on your life? After attending Austin Community College for two years, I have learned so much about myself: I like jalapeños on my Simon’s Café burgers; I have grown to like sitting at the front of the auditorium; and I have learned that teacher-rating sites are my best friends. However, the most important recourse I’ve acquired is the family I’ve made here. Since the beginning of my ACC journey in fall of 2008, I have gained a different set of friends in a drastically different setting. In high school, it seemed that others influenced my actions negatively and it proved difficult to be successful. Here at ACC, everyone is here with different majors and focuses, but we all share the goal of being successful in whichever area of study we chose to follow. It is here I’ve made extraordinary new friends who have the same passions as I do. In other universities, you are just any other body occupying space. I find that here, I’ve never had a teacher who did not know my name by the second week of class! The teachers here are spectacular and hold some exemplary credentials; but at the same time, each has an air of modesty about them and they want to get to know you. I have a friend in a chemistry class who likes to call me “Mr. ACC.” When I asked why, her response was simply, “It seems like you know everyone here!” That’s what I like about this place. I am currently a Spanish tutor at the Riverside Learning Lab as well as a part of Supplemental Instruction. I’m so grateful for holding these positions and I could not have done it without the help of friends, faculty and staff. It really has been a great, fulfilling experience to have once been just a student, and now, to be part of something amazing. I’m planning on transferring to the University of Texas this coming spring, however, my explorations at ACC will not just come to an end. Even though one might say I’m no longer continuing my educational experience at ACC, I disagree. Just like a family, I am always welcome here; whether it is with employment that mentally challenges me, advice from experienced people, strong new friendships or simply acquiring more knowledge. I am ACC.