East Carolina undergrad credits community college for academic success

When it was time to apply for college, La'Quon Rogers was an in-demand student.

He was offered academic scholarships to a number of four-year colleges, but chose to attend Pitt Community College in the Greenville area of eastern North Carolina.

"My decision to attend community college was not only the right call, but a major reason for my success," Rogers said of his time at Pitt.

Raised by his grandmother, neither of his parents attended post-secondary institutions, Rogers said that despite not having a family history of higher education, he was "determined to get a degree in business management and enter the business world."

After some research, Rogers said the best financial situation he found was to attend community college and then later to transfer those credits to a four-year school, allowing him to attain "a quality education at a fraction of the cost."

"I was also able to receive a full scholarship by participating in the student ambassador program," Rogers said. "This allowed me to get an associate's degree without any debt."

Rogers' academic credits from PCC transferred to nearby East Carolina University, where he was able to immediately begin his major degree work in business management.

But his business experience was not the only thing that transferred. He brought another set of skills with him from Pitt Community College -- politics and policy -- which he found while serving as the student body president.

His second year at PCC, he even served as the student body president for the entire community college system of N.C.

"This experience in student body elections and government instilled a new love in me -- politics," Rogers said. "I even added a second major in political science after that."

East Carolina has a much larger student population than PCC, but Rogers again ran for student body president and won this position as well. He attributes his success in leadership to the lessons he learned from his time at Pitt Community College, his faith in God and an extensive series of mentors who helped him along the way.

"A leader must have the heart of a servant, the willpower of a soldier and the ability to leave a lifetime of impact in a single moment," he said.

Rogers was also able to study abroad in France and Spain while at PCC. He spent time hosting campus tours and working for the school, and was the commencement speaker at his class' graduation of over 650 students.

Rogers is set to graduate from ECU in 2018, with a double major in business management and political science and very little debt he says, and he attributes the "world of opportunities ahead" in his life to his experience at PCC.