When Samantha Christen decided she was ready to go back to school, one of her first decisions was also one of her best: She decided to explore her options at Great Bay Community College.
“I worked in finance, which was fun. It paid the bills, but it wasn’t anything I was passionate about,” said Christen, 35, of Rochester, who is studying environmental science. “But then I got involved in sustainability at work, I thought, ‘Maybe this is a field I can work in.’”
When she investigated what Great Bay offered, she was drawn to and impressed with the college’s Environmental Science Program, which is designed for students who plan to transfer to a four-year school to pursue a degree in environmental studies.
Christen will do just that – to Columbia University, where she intends enroll in the fall of 2025 majoring in either environmental studies or earth sciences. As a non-traditional student, she caught the attention of the Ivy League universities School of General Studies when her exceptional academic record earned her acceptance into the Phi Theta Kappa Honors Society at Great Bay.
“After that happened, I got a letter from Columbia that said, ‘We hear you are a high-achieving non-traditional student,’ and they invited me to apply.”
She never expected to get in. “I figured they send these letters to a million people. But when I learned that I had been accepted, I said – ‘Holy smokes! This is real.’ I had to read it a dozen times.
Before Great Bay, Christen’s college experience consisted of two years of study at a community college in Maine. She majored in English literature but did not finish her degree, because she had to leave school to care for a family member.
When she was ready to resume her education, Great Bay appealed to her because it was affordable, convenient, and it had a reputation for excellence. Great Bay also accepted many of the credits she earned at community college in Maine. “They were great about going through my transcript and helping me not waste time or money,” she said.
With many of her general education classes out of the way, she was able to focus on her major right away. The Environmental Science program at GBCC was configured as providing a diverse curriculum to serve as a foundation for students with a broad range of interests related to the environment.
“It felt like the right program for me from the beginning,” Christen said. “Working alongside people who were also passionate about these issues, it solidified in my mind that I was doing the right thing and I had made the right choice.”
As a non-traditional student, Christen worried about feeling out of place. But that never happened. “It was obvious that I was the oldest person there, but I always felt welcome by the faculty, staff, and students. Everyone has been super helpful.”
With her future at Columbia in clear sight, her goal is to maintain her academic momentum and finish her degree in Great Bay in good order, and then prepare for her immersion into the Ivy League and a move to New York.
“This is quite the jump, but I am ready. Great Bay has prepared me for this opportunity,” she said.
