Until he came to Laurel Ridge Community College, Jeremiah Beasley, didn’t think himself much of “a joiner.”
These days, he is a Student Ambassador and vice president of leadership with Alpha Psi Iota, the Fauquier Campus’s chapter of Phi Theta Kappa, an academic honor society for two-year colleges. Beasley has since been to student leadership conferences for both groups.
“I had a blast, and met some really cool people,” said Beasley. “That has been a big thing here at the college. It’s been really great getting to meet cool people.”
Beasley plans to earn his associate degree in science from Laurel Ridge and then transfer to George Mason University and major in biology.
While he is still working out his ultimate career aspirations, Beasley is interested in pursuing bioinformatics, which he can minor in at GMU, and which involves using computer science to analyze biological data. Beasley said it is often used in genome building.
“I really, really enjoy my biology classes at Laurel Ridge,” said Beasley, who was homeschooled before coming to the college. “I took Biology 101 and 102 with Professor Brian Wilcox, and I liked learning about how the world works and how living organisms work. It gave me a deeper understanding of the mechanics of our world.
“I loved seeing everything in more detail. It was just fascinating to me to see how the tiny little pieces that go into making a living organism all fit together. I love microscopes!”
Beasley admits he’s not a fan of academic writing, but said the process was made much more enjoyable thanks to English instructor, Joseph Walls.
“I loved Professor Walls,” he said. “He’s an excellent teacher. He’s so much fun to talk to, and makes his classes so interesting.”
But, it was a third professor who really influenced him to come to Laurel Ridge, History Professor Nicole Martin, a family friend. Beasley said he and Professor Martin’s son are longtime friends.
“Also, community college provides increased flexibility in higher education,” he said in explaining his decision to come to the college. “It’s much cheaper than a four-year. There are so many transfer agreements. I can transfer to George Mason because I went to Laurel Ridge.”
The benefits of community college are so many, Beasley even made them the subject of a class paper he wrote!
Laurel Ridge Community College was known as Lord Fairfax Community College until June 2022. For consistency purposes, the college will be referenced as Laurel Ridge going forward.