FTCC student Azlyn Raja
Enjoy this success story from Azlyn Raja, who is enrolled at FTCC through the High School Connections program, which allows high school students to earn college credit for free. Azlyn has taken full advantage of the HSC program, earning her high school diploma and her Associate in Science, while taking on a leadership role as president of FTCC’s National Technical Honor Society chapter.
I am currently a senior in high school and am on schedule to graduate summa cum laude with my high school diploma and an associate degree in science. I am the Chapter President of the National Technical Honor Society at FTCC. I have been accepted into the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University for environmental science. I am looking to double major in international studies or philosophy. I received scholarships from both universities and have been assured admittance into an Environmental Science/Information Science dual degree at UNC-Chapel Hill. Additionally, I was accepted into the honors program at NCSU and have been offered a spot to live within the Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) Living and Learning Village.
I dream of becoming an environmental lawyer and working for the United Nations Environmental Programme. If my dreams become reality, I will be the first environmental lawyer in my traditionally medical family. My goal as an environmental lawyer is to advocate for laws and policies to ensure the safety of all living beings on Earth for generations to come. I like to keep an open mind, so I have not committed to a particular niche within environmental science. However, I am considering sustainable agriculture to help battle food insecurity worldwide.
Since I attended FTCC, I have grown a lot. I attended a small, highly competitive private school with essentially the same students for my first eight years of education. This intense environment resulted in a few drawbacks, such as frequent frustration and stress, fear of disappointing my parents and teachers, and viewing my classmates as rivals instead of friends. By middle school, I lacked confidence and was reluctant to participate in group discussions, fearful of being wrong or laughed at for my opinions. I dreaded giving class presentations and often shied away from leadership opportunities, instead preferring small supporting roles. Gambling with the hope that I would be happier having more control over my academic and social environment, my parents pulled me to start home schooling in eighth grade.
Azlyn Raja lights a candle at the National Technical Honor Society induction on March 20, 2025.
As a home schooler, I began to grow, but it was not until I joined FTCC that I began to flourish. While at FTCC, I have found a fantastic community of people, specifically in the Student Learning Center’s tutoring lab with Mr. Harvey Marrow. The Student Learning Center staff has been a wonderful support system, helping me with academic and sometimes personal issues. We work while enjoying each other’s company through jokes and random conversations. Additionally, FTCC has allowed me to grow comfortable with public speaking and being a leader. I am grateful for this experience with college classes before I start studying at a four-year university. I feel prepared and comfortable navigating the new college setting.
I especially appreciate FTCC for helping me discover my passion for philosophy and ethics. In my second semester, I took Intro to Ethics. That class opened my eyes to a completely different world. After my first day, I was intrigued, and after the semester, I was sold. I wanted nothing more than to immerse myself in the philosophical world. I loved debating topics, I craved to hear people’s perspectives and how they differed from mine, and my ethics textbook was the only textbook I genuinely enjoyed reading. All of my classmates possessed their own experiences that shaped their perspectives and justified their reasoning for choosing their side. It was the first time I experienced sonder. After that semester, I knew I wanted to integrate philosophy into my four-year education via a minor or a double major.
