Schoolcraft Scholars Honors Program

Honors Students




Leah Esslinger

Leah graduated from Schoolcraft Scholars Honors Program in 2012. In her own words, Leah is eccentric, energetic, and forever expanding. While she has always been active in the community, she became a “radical volunteer” after returning from Lima, Peru. It was there that she saw the power one person has to empower, inspire, and accomplish. Another thing that she found out quickly is life as a volunteer is never boring! Leah has painted orphanages, built houses, driven around Detroit handing out backpacks to the homeless, and helped with monthly community dinners at Detroit Soup.

For her service and academic efforts Leah has been awarded several prestigious awards:

  • MCC Newman Fellowship
  • MCC Commitment to Service
  • All American USA Academic
  • All- Michigan Academic Team
  • The Coca-Cola Scholarship

While at Schoolcraft, Leah was a Writing Fellow and the Vice President of Communication of Phi Theta Kappa. She had contributed to numerous campus publications including The Connection and The International Agenda. She also received the Pageturners Award for a short story inspired by fiction. Leah transferred to Wayne State University in 2012. Her future plans are to pursue a Doctorate in Linguistic Anthropology.




Ryan Daniels

Ryan graduated from Schoolcraft Scholars Honors Program in 2011 and transferred to Lawrence Technological University where he is seeking a Bachelor Degree in Physics. Upon graduation from LTU, Ryan is planning to pursue a Doctorate and focus on research.

In the summer on 2012, Ryan was part of a team of students selected for a prestigious internship at Princeton University. For his academic and service efforts Ryan received several awards:

  • Claren C. Jones Science Award
  • Schoolcraft College Certificate of Achievement
  • Schoolcraft College Pythagorean Prize
  • MCC Heart and Soul Award

While attending Schoolcraft College, Ryan was involved in my service projects, such as Read Wagon, Reality Store, Early Literacy Volunteers and Gleaners in Detroit. However, his favorite service activity was Pageturners—the Schoolcraft College book club.

Ryan credits his academic career at Schoolcraft for his current success. “Among the interns at Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory were students from Harvard and Stanford. Despite coming from a community college, I was seen as a competitor and eventually selected for the program. To me this just goes to show that you make your own path in life and the only obstacle you can encounter is you.”




Chris CiavattoneChris Ciavattone: Graduated from Schoolcraft College with honors in Phi Theta Kappa, and the Schoolcraft Scholars Honors Program with an associate degree in Science, and transferred to Wayne State as a biology major. Chris served as a Michigan Service Scholar while at Schoolcraft. For his outstanding efforts, he received the Michigan Campus Compact Heart and Soul Award for community service, and the prestigious Newman Civic Fellows Award for civic engagement. Volunteerism was the foundation of Chris’ Schoolcraft experience, and he served nearly 500 hours of community service, frequently bridging the gap between students and the community. He co-founded Schoolcraft's first student food pantry to address food insecurity within our student body, staff, faculty and their families. As an alumnus, he continued to manage the student food pantry with the Student Activities. He also earned the Academic Service Learning designation on his Schoolcraft College transcript. Chris reflects on his experience at Schoolcraft and concludes “I can honestly say that my experience with the Honors Program was in no small way responsible for developing me into the scholar and citizen that I am today.”




Bhavika PatelBhavika Patel: Bhavika is a Schoolcraft graduate with an associate degree in Engineering. She transferred to Lawrence Tech University, with a plan to pursue a bachelor degree in Biomedical Engineering. Being the Schoolcraft team leader for the Red Wagon Program was an “amazing leadership experience” for Bhavika, and it provided her with a wonderful opportunity to serve the community. In a span of 4 weeks, the Schoolcraft team was able to help deliver over 2,000 books to children in the low-income Norwayne area in Westland. Completing the Schoolcraft Scholars Honor Program in a year “was a challenging but a rewarding experience.” As a scholar, she was able to attend the Michigan Campus Compact service leadership camp, work closely with honors faculty, receive a tuition scholarship for most of her major courses, and participate in interesting on and off-campus activities.