Student Profile
Ben ArnettAttending IVC was one of the best decisions I ever made. After graduating from high school with a severely deficient academic record, I had two choices: Entering into the workforce with only a high school degree or going to community college and attempting to get my act together. I chose the latter.
At IVC I was exposed to a completely different academic experience. Unlike high school, I was free to study and take the classes I was interested in. These courses promoted independent thinking and discussion, rather than the simple repetition and regurgitation of facts or the opinions of others.
Political Science quickly became the emphasis of my studies. I was exposed to three of the core fields of Political Science: Comparative Politics, International Relations and American Government. Many of the fundamentals taught in these courses followed me throughout my future study and work in Los Angeles and Washington, DC.
I truly realized just what attending community college at IVC had done for my future when I got the news that I had been accepted at my top-choice school: UCLA. The hard work I did to obtain IGETC certification and complete the Political Science major emphasis really paid off. When I started taking my new classes on the faster paced quarter system it seemed like being a transfer student was an advantage. Unlike many students who had already been at UCLA for years I was able to jump straight in and immerse myself into upper division classes that really brought the world of political science and international relations into focus.
My last quarter at UCLA I was one of 27 other UCLA students in a highly competitive program that sends students to Washington, DC, to write an extensive research paper on a topic of our choosing while working at an internship. My internship was at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars working as a personal research assistant for Michael Adler, who was working on a book on the events and diplomacy surrounding Iran's nuclear program. I was exposed to interviews with many US officials and foreign policy experts while at the same time editing and finding sources that were put directly into the book itself. The experience culminated in me finishing my own 30-page paper on Iran.
Community college is what you make of it, like most things in life. I consider attending IVC to be one of the most pivotal decisions of my life, because all that has come after could not have happened without the knowledge and success I attained there. I hope my story will demonstrate that anything is possible. If you are unsure of your future, IVC will help you find out what you are capable of.