Dual Enrollment Student Wins Top Beta Club Scholarship

June 28, 2021 - Richmond Senior High School graduate Noah Aiken was at a loss for words when he got the call letting him know that he was a National Beta Club Scholarship winner. It wasn't so much the scholarship that stunned him. It was the amount. He received the top Beta Club scholarship of $20,000.

Aiken was in Orlando, Fla., over the weekend at the National Beta Club Scholarship Convention to accept this scholarship.

"I was absolutely surprised, as you can’t expect to win with such a small chance of it happening," said Aiken, who graduated high school in June.

Aiken will be attending the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill this fall and will be studying business. He wants to be a business owner or perhaps a CEO of a company. He's also interested in becoming a stock and trade investor. Either way, he knows he wants to be in the world of business.

Aiken heads to UNC-CH with nearly 60 college credits thanks to the Dual Enrollment Program at Richmond Community College. He took a total of 16 college classes for free at RichmondCC while in high school.

"I am almost completely finished with all of my prerequisite classes and can immediately start considering classes that contribute directly to my major," he said. "Dual enrollment was one of the best things I have ever done. I felt these classes gave me the responsibility and rigor that is expected at a four-year institution, giving me experience and confidence as I face the next stage of my life."

Director of K-12 Partnerships Kary Edmondson worked closely with Aiken each semester to make sure he took the right classes at RichmondCC for his future educational plans.

"I believe the true measure of student success is how well students are prepared to accomplish their current and future goals. Noah Aiken is the epitome of not only a successful high school student, but also a successful college student," Edmondson said. "Noah's passion for learning and his drive to reach his goals shows his maturity. His leadership skills are impeccable, and those skills that make him an outstanding high school leader are the ones that will make him an outstanding real-world leader some day."

While in the Dual Enrollment Program at RichmondCC, Aiken was also a member of Richmond Senior High's varsity soccer team, National Honor Society, and Student Senate. He served as vice president of the Beta Club and second vice president of the Senate, and he was involved in organizing many fundraisers for both groups.

Aiken was also accepted into the Governor's School of North Carolina, a five-week summer residential program for gifted and talented high school students, and the Governor’s Page Program, which gives high school students from all over North Carolina the opportunity to come to Raleigh for a week of hands-on participation in their state government.

"Many students think the Dual Enrollment Program at RichmondCC will interfere with their high school sports or extracurricular activities. Noah, a very active and involved student-athlete, is a good example of how this is not the case," Edmondson said.

For Aiken, the Dual Enrollment Program taught him how to manage his time more wisely and opened up new opportunities for growth.

"I would absolutely recommend the Dual Enrollment Program and RichmondCC to anyone. I felt myself grow as an individual and was pleasantly challenged while learning many valuable lessons," he said.

Aiken is a son of Rick Aiken and Jenny Mabe. He also has two proud step-parents, Donna McMillan-Aiken and Scotty Mabe. Before heading off to UNC-CH at the end of the summer, Aiken is working as a lifeguard and camp counselor at Browder Park in Rockingham.

For More Information

To learn more about the Dual Enrollment Program, contact Director of K-12 PartnershipsKary Edmondson at kcedmondson@richmondcc.edu or call (910) 410-1700.