Students with learning differences have many paths to choose from after they graduate from Noble Academy, including college, career, gap year, and apprenticeships. In this episode, we focus on some alums who chose the college route, and in future episodes we will hear from those who chose other pathways.
Gayle:
This episode is about just one kind of successful Noble pathway. By no means is it the only one. Today you will hear from some past Noble Academy students who chose to pursue college, but first it is important to mention that I have spoken to many happy Noble Academy graduates who have chosen pathways rather than college. Listen for their stories on a future episode. Today’s stories from Noble college students and college graduates remind us how well an independent school like ours can prepare students with learning differences for higher education if that is what they want. Also, these alums have some wisdom and inspiration to share with our High School students today, so I hope we have some juniors and seniors listening.
Let’s get started
Jeff:
I'm Jeff Goering. I went to Noble in 2014, maybe around that area. I was at Noble Academy for 8 years, and I graduated in 2023.
I am a 2nd year game design and development major at the Rochester Institute of Technology in New York. I am currently doing web design, 3 d modeling, and game development in Unity.
Some of the positive memories I have at Noble Academy are from the idea path class. I think that's a big influence on my decision for going to Rochester Institute Technology for Game Design as it was a very hands-on creative classroom, which helped give inspiration for me going into game design as I've created a lot of things in that classroom. I made a board game. I also was experimenting with making video games and 3 d printing.
Parker Boylan:
Hi. I'm Parker Boylan, and I went to Noble Academy from grades 9 through 12. I was student of the year in 2022.
I go to school at Beacon College in Leesburg, Florida, and it's one of the most supportive educational environments that I've ever been in.
It's a college that's specifically made for kids with learning differences. And the difference between that school and other colleges is that you don't have to fill any forms to advocate for yourself or for your learning difference.
There's this place called the writing center that they have where a writing consultant comes and fixes your paper if you need it.
I always wanted to study web and digital media. I've always been interested in design.
One of my favorite classes is digital music studio.
The first two years, I lived in dorms owned by the campus. But this year and next year, I'm living in an off campus apartment.
Dylan Rock:
My name is Dylan Rock…and I graduated in 2016.
I'm an airline pilot now and fly for a charter airline.
I do feel like uh sometimes teachers do push college and when I was in they pushed college really hard. Um and sometimes that's not always the answer. You know, I'm finishing my degree now and I'm well into my career field. I just know I want to get a degree to move over to management at some point. So the answer might not be going into college right when you get out of high school. You know, maybe maybe go work in the career field for, you know, go get a job and work for a year and see how you feel. Take a year off and enjoy work and see what you like to do because, you know, in high school I worked at uh I worked at Lowe's Foods. But, I, you know, even at the grocery store, you know, I have I was in roles where I was teaching or you know, doing other things. So, you get to really see what you like to do even with those smaller jobs, I would say.
So actually, I was going for an aviation management degree and found out quickly that that degree is kind of not worth it. The aviation colleges are way too expensive. So, I'm just getting a generic business degree. That's really all I'm doing.
Gayle: Do you like it?
Dylan: Yeah, I'd say I enjoy studying it more than uh the aviation degree because I'm learning stuff. that's, you know, like right now I'm taking microeconomics and it's kind of stuff that's I'm learning stuff that's outside of my career field. So that's what I enjoy.
Clare Bristol:
My name is Clare Bristol.I graduated in May of 2019.
So, when I was applying for college, Noble was super helpful with that. And I applied to four different schools in North Carolina, but I knew I wanted to stay nearby just because I had gone to boarding school
And to me, when I was in high school, I wanted to get to college so bad because , it's, college is just much more independent and, you know, you're really trying to find your way and find what you want to do. Food for the rest of your life or at least for the time being after you graduate. , and, you know, I think there's a lot of pressure on students these days to know right away what you want to do. And yes, I did, but I know that so many people that I was, you know, graduating with did not. I went to UNCG, but I ended up graduating from Greensboro College and, and Greensburg College was much smaller and I think I benefited from that more than UNCG just because those small classes is a lot more like Noble. UNCG is much bigger. Greensboro College is a much smaller campus.
Cut to
I also went to Cape Fear Community College, which was the college I actually enjoyed the most out of the three. , and I had wished that I could have gotten my bachelor's degree there, but I also, you know, would recommend community colleges as well, just you know, whatever works for that individual. , and to know that also for me, there was so much pressure to graduate in four years and I didn't. And I think that a lot of people think they have to and I think that a lot of high schoolers need to know that it's okay if you don't.
RYAN:
My name is Ryan Taube, and I came to Noble Academy in 8th grade, and I stayed through my senior year of high school.
And I graduated in 2010. I went to Greensboro College for undergrad, and I got a bachelor's in special education. And I taught k twelve special ed, and then I actually moved into higher education. So I went and got a master's degree, from North Carolina Central University in Durham, North Carolina. And I got a master's of arts in career counseling and placement. And so, then I transitioned to a full time role, at Averett University, which is a small private school in Danville, Virginia. And I worked in
their career center. And then I transitioned to a role in career services at Winston Salem State University, Winston Salem. And currently, I'm at Elon University, working in their career center within the school of communications. So, I kinda found my place in higher education, and I really enjoy it. I really am able to help students find opportunities, whether it's internships or entry level roles. And I'm able to work with our career advisers who work with students on a daily basis and share with them about opportunities.
GAYLE:
So for our high school students who will graduate soon, do you have any career advice?
RYAN:
Yeah. I think, you know, take advantage of the opportunities that you have, whether it's, you know, getting involved in athletics or maybe getting involved in extracurriculars, whether it's, you know, in a club or organization. I think, you know, taking advantage of what Noble has to offer, you know, really, you know, asking good questions. Like, if you have questions about, you know, you're in class, you have questions about the topic that you're learning, you have questions about the material, you know, ask those questions. You know, no question is a bad question. You know, I really feel like you just wanna, you know, put yourself out there, you know, become comfortable being uncomfortable. I think, you know, if you just kinda stay in your shell and you don't, you know, meet new people or connect with your peers or connect with your teachers, you really won't get as well of a well rounded experience. And so, really just take advantage of the opportunities, put yourself out there, and just try to try to grow whether it's personally, whether it's on the athletic field, whether it's, you know, becoming a leader in a student org or a club. I think all those experiences will make you more well rounded, and it'll make you, just grow as a as a someone who's young and and trying to figure out kind of their place in in the world and and which help will probably help you figure out what you wanna do in the future, maybe as for a career as well.
Gayle:
I want to thank Ryan, who gave that last bit of important advice, as well as Clare, Dylan, Parker and Jeff, all wonderful alums who shared the story of their journeys from Noble Academy to college. Come back again soon for an episode about alums who chose other successful pathways. Clearly, there is no single Noble journey, and we are all Proud to be Noble.