Recently I had the pleasure of meeting and speaking with Glenn Lynde, a student at Berkshire Community College.

Glenn is a soft spoken man who doesn’t easily talk about his accomplishments as a student, but has many.    We started by Glenn telling me a bit about his background.

Glenn grew up in Easthampton, MA.  He attended Northampton High School but dropped out in ninth grade and joined the military.  He then worked as a roofer for 25 years.  At some point, Glenn needed to change occupations.  He recognized that getting a degree was essential in order to make changes in his life.  Glenn also wanted a college degree to challenge himself, to prove that he could “do it”, and to help him feel good about himself.

He found his way to BCC in the fall of 2007 when he enrolled in Project Link,   a program designed to prepare GED and ESL students to enter degree and certificate programs at BCC. Despite lack of confidence in his abilities to be a good student,   Glenn  quickly moved through Project Link and enrolled as a full-time student at the college in spring 2008.  At that point, he joined TRIO, a support program for first-generation students.

Glenn credits Project Link and TRIO as having a profound influence on his ability to be successful.  The support he has received from both  of these programs  as well as other faculty and staff  at BCC, makes the college feel  like “home” for Glenn.  Being in college is really his life right now and he is making the most of it.

Like most students at BCC, Glenn started out in precollege math .  Having been out of school for so long, he started out at the most basic level and quickly moved on into college level math.  Glenn’s success in “developmental math” is remarkable.  Many students who start where Glenn did, never finish and often times drop out of school altogether.

Despite his success, Glenn says that math has been one of his hardest subjects.  At first he felt intimated by it, but overtime, found ways to overcome these feelings.  When I asked Glenn how he did this, he was clear that there were certain steps he took that really helped him be successful.  Most importantly, Glenn found two excellent math faculty who were both  readily available and helped to explain content in a more understandable way and knew just how much information to give so as not to overwhelm him .  Glenn also found that these teachers were extremely encouraging , always telling him that he could “do it” and to” keep trying”.   Soon enough, he came to believe their words and saw for himself that with hard work , dedication, and persistence he could be successful in math as well in other courses.

Glenn will  graduate next fall with a degree in environmental science  and plans to transfer to a four-year school to study geology-  no small achievement and with a 3.9 GPA the sky’s  the limit!

When I asked Glenn what he would tell other students to help them both get through and thrive at BCC, he offered the following very wise advice:

v  Ask for help.  There are lots of places to get it

v  Use all available resources-faculty, staff, other students, tutors

v  Participate in study sessions to prepare for tests

v  Study often and use repetition to learn.

v  Find a way to really want to be here.

v  Set  clear goals

v  Give yourself a chance.  Don’t quit

v  Use any support you have from outside of the college-family, friends, counselors, etc.

Doing well in college does take commitment and determination.  These are not magical  qualitiesl.  Glen worked hard to cultivate and use them both in his life and at BCC.  His story is a real testament to that.  Good luck to you Glenn.  There is no doubt that as you move on from BCC you will continue to shine.