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Featured photo: Heidi Anugrah in the Patton Building on the Henderson County Campus. (Photo by Emily Gill.)
Emily Gill, Marketing & Communications Dept.
In August 2023, then-16-year-old Heidi Anugrah faced a big decision: to go to a four-year school as a teenager or find another way to continue her education.
After completing her private online high school degree at an accelerated pace, Anugrah was hungry to learn, but she was not ready to go to a four-year school at only 16.
“I didn’t want to pause my education because I was still very much craving learning, so I enrolled at Blue Ridge,” said Anugrah. “I had quite a few mentors who were already working at the College so that was really nice.”
Anugrah described her first semester at Blue Ridge as “magical” – to get to focus on college level academics while still living at home.
“To go to Blue Ridge and have some really challenging professors – students need those classes to prepare themselves for a four-year school,” she said. “My Blue Ridge classes really prepared me for my first semester at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.”
Anugrah completed her Blue Ridge courses over the summer, and then began her first semester at UNC Chapel Hill in August. She credits her time at Blue Ridge for preparing a firm foundation for the rest of her education.
“I feel confident in my ability to do hard work, to figure things out, to knock at challenging topics and challenging classes because of the hard work that I did at Blue Ridge,” she said. “I really like that I’m able to feel confident in the wide array of classes I’m taking in my first semester at Chapel Hill because of what I did at Blue Ridge.”
She encouraged students to make connections while at Blue Ridge and to explore subjects and career paths.
Heidi Anugrah (pictured far right) during her time with the Student Government Association at Blue Ridge.
“Blue Ridge lets you connect with instructors, and they can connect you with things like conferences and other opportunities that expand horizons and career opportunities. Spread out your general education classes and enjoy the freedom exploring different areas,” she said. “It’s helpful to be able to get that exploration at Blue Ridge instead of doing it at a four-year university where it’s a lot more expensive. “
Anugrah intends to apply to the Chapel Hill business school to pursue corporate consulting.
Learn more about transfer programs at Blue Ridge at www.blueridge.edu/transfer.