Twenty-four year old Miramar College graduate Summer Lee admits to not taking her education very seriously as a student at Torrance High School. “I wasn’t very passionate about education back then, and admittedly, I didn’t put forth much effort,” said Lee. Not the type of statement you’d expect to read from a soon to be Ivy League student. Fast forward 6 years and Lee has been accepted to Yale University as an Eli Whitney Student after completing an associate of arts degree in Social and Behavioral Sciences this past May at San Diego Miramar College.
The Eli Whitney Students Program is designed for individuals with high academic potential who have had their education interrupted, at some point during their educational careers, for five or more years. Yale accepts between 2 and 9 Eli Whitney Students a year. In Lee’s case, she graduated high school and pursued a career in the Marine Corps ascending to the rank of sergeant. After 4 years and a deployment to Afghanistan and Qatar as a comptroller, Lee enrolled at San Diego Miramar College. “I was not from San Diego, but through research, I became aware of the high transfer rate and incredible support Miramar College provides to its student veterans,” said Lee.
While at Miramar College, Lee used that support to excel in her studies posting a perfect 4.0 GPA. She also served as the treasurer for the Student Veterans Organization and used the College’s Vets-2-Jets program to assist with the purchase of textbooks.
This fall she will enroll at Yale and begin pursuit of her bachelor’s in economics hoping to start a non-profit organization to help veterans excel in academia. “After Yale, I’d like to go to business school and earn my MBA. I am also excited to pursue an internship next summer with Goldman Sachs as an analyst.”
Lee learned about the Eli Whitney Students Program while attending the Warrior Scholar Project at Harvard while stationed at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. The one-week academic program assists veterans transitioning from the military to college. “It is such a great honor to be accepted into the Eli Whitney Student Program and I believe my military service played a crucial role in this transition. My time in the Marine Corps served as a sufficient preparatory period to gain confidence in my academic abilities. I owe most of my academic success to the Marine Corps and its leaders who shaped me into the student-veteran that I have become today. Additionally, I feel very lucky to have met such incredible staff and faculty during my two years at Miramar College and Mesa College. They work tirelessly to ensure academic success of their students and deserve every ounce of praise and recognition.”
Lee will spend this summer touring the country until she begins classes at Yale in August. “I’m excited to continue my academic journey at Yale and a bit nervous about the transition.”
