Walking about the City College of New York (CCNY) campus, no one ever seems to notice that they are walking among many students still in high school - although there are a few confused faces from time to time. CCNY in fact has their own high school within. The High School of Math, Science and Engineering is one of the nine specialized high schools here in NYC. However, I am one of the few that come from "the outside".

The City University of New York (CUNY) partners several of their colleges with public schools throughout New York in order to up the chances of their students earning a college degree. The City College of New York is one of those colleges. The students who partake in the program are normally underrepresented in higher education. Coming from a high school, City College Academy of the Arts, where the majority of students identify as Hispanic, The Early College Initiative (ECI) opens a door to receive the education we might not have gotten otherwise. This collaborative program allows students to take classes on campus as early as sophomore year earning credits that not only go towards a high school diploma, but a college degree as well. Did I mention tuition free? While in the program, students can take a range of 3-6 classes per semester and not have to pay a single dime. Many will have two years worth of college credits by the time they graduate high school. These credits may follow them wherever they choose to study next.

Some may fear that balancing college and high school takes away from a true high school experience, but those who are older weren't lying when they said college would be the best four years of our lives. Not only have we been set up academically, we have the support and enthusiasm from our administrators to branch off and become independent, social students. They encourage us to participate in extracurriculars within the college (like ahem, writing for Odyssey...) and take advantage of the resources around us.

It's a shame that not many people are aware of the Early College program. We live in a competitive world, where we are not always given the resources we need to succeed - a world where a quality education is not as easy to receive as it should be. We are reminded daily that this program is a privilege, for there are numerous amounts of people in the same or worse conditions that do not have such opportunities. Thanks to the Early College Initiative at CUNY, many will be the first to graduate within their family, and strive to be leaders.