Charlie Davis, a junior at The Questar III and Hudson Valley Community College STEM High School, participated in a recent “Five Questions” interview with Erica Bouska, a reporter for The Troy Record, that was published Dec. 18.
Questar III BOCES and Hudson Valley Community College STEM High School in Troy is an uncommon experience for students: get a degree (for free) while still in high school.
Charlie Davis is a junior at the STEM High School and by the time he graduates, will have an associate’s degree in computer information systems. Halfway through his junior year, he has already accumulated 60 college credits.
Housed in HVCC’s Lang Technical Building, the program is offered to seven counties and 46 school districts and provides high school and college education with a focus in one of four pathways: computer information systems, engineering technology, health sciences, and environmental science and protection technology. The tuition costs – including books and any fees – are entirely covered.
Davis is originally part of the Hoosick Valley Central School District in northern Rensselaer County. He has a 4.0 GPA and is considering RPI, RIT or Cornell University as potential college choices.
What’s your favorite part of being here?
“My favorite parts, there’s a lot of cool people, a lot of people with similar interests, have a lot of friends. The campus is great. Like the high school might be small compared to another high school. But the campus is ginormous. There’s a lot of buildings, we get to go all over to our college classes. There’s a whole gym building complex.
“There’s an ice skating rink, there is a track and field. There’s like a fancy science center with a set of labs and a greenhouse. The Campus Center, you can get food and hang out. There’s like air hockey tables, ping pong.”
How did you hear about the program and become involved?
“I think there was a news article, and my grandparents saw it, and they saw that you can get free college credits, and they sent it to my mom. And my mom really liked that idea. And then told me and she was pretty set on it. I was for it, so then I came here, and it was it was a good choice.”
Do you have a favorite class?
“Most of the high school classes are like normal high school classes, and they’re good, but my favorite classes have been the college classes. And my favorite one has been game design, which I took this semester. It’s a good mixture of programming and creativity. So it feels like an art class mixed with programming.
“And it’s the best of my two interests in art and logic, combining those to make a game.”
Do you have any future plans of what major you want to go into? Or any career ideas?
“Yeah, I’ve been interested in computer science. I’m doing the computer science pathway through [the STEM high school] It’s four pathways, and I did the computer science one. So after, probably some software development, and game design as a job, I would like to look into that. But after I leave this college high school program, I’d like to go on and get a larger degree.
“Here, I graduate with an associate’s degree. And then after this, I would go and get my bachelor’s and master’s.”
What do you think are the main advantages of this program?
“There’s a lot of support between the teachers and the friends and what’s available on college. So, even though the classes can be kind of difficult, there’s a lot of ways you can reach out for help and get assistance, and it’s also just a very nice environment. It’s fun to come to get your work done, compared to I guess, a normal high school.”