January 17, 2025
Nursing major Leo Barnhart, a junior from Blue Creek, Ohio sees the Shawnee State University Honors Program as having ways to push students past their abilities and explore endless opportunities.
“The Honors Program is a way to seek more out of your educational opportunities, exploring things like research, travel, and meeting others,” Barnhart said.
Barnhart’s favorite experience in the program has been having the opportunity to visit the Dominican Republic, meeting many different people and exploring the culture that takes place there.
“We actually visited the Dominican Republic for our Spanish class,” Barnhart said. “We got to do things like learn more Spanish and the history there, while also spending time with others, chatting and dancing around campfires.”
Barnhart explained that academically challenging courses aren't necessarily what the program is about. It is about getting to explore the things students learn hands-on, with trips and experiences, so they can put themselves out there and learn more that way.
“We just go through our normal classes, then tackle our personal research,” Barnhart said, explaining the program. “We do attend something that is called Honors Symposium. There, we meet about one day per year and get to see all the different kinds of things that other Honors students are doing.”
Along with taking their academics to another level, Barnhart loves the extracurricular activities that take place in the Honors Program. Pizza parties, movie nights, and independent research are among Barnhart’s favorite things to do with others in the program.
To learn more about the Honors Program at Shawnee State University, visit shawnee.edu/honors.