As a member of the inaugural graduating class of Lone Star College-North Harris’ Victory Early College in May 2011, Jamaal Wright made the most of his academic opportunities to lay the foundation for his success.
Wright is one of many LSC-North Harris alumni who has achieved great personal and academic success after starting at his hometown college. He went on to earn a bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas and is now a second-year MBA candidate at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Wright credits his start at Victory Early College for the onset of his success.
”I remember my senior year when my Intro to Biology professor called me out in the middle of class and challenged me to hold in my witty commentary until after I had earned a few more ‘letters behind my name’ (referring to academic degrees),” Wright said. “Moments such as these caught me off guard at the time, but more importantly, instilled in me a drive to accomplish more academically.”
Wright began his college education with more than 120 classmates at Victory Early College, which is now a part of Lone Star College’s LSC-Houston North campus. The program was created to allow high school students to earn their associate degree while completing their high school diploma. He would experience a lot of change over the next two years.
Not only did his school begin allowing students to complete college coursework directly on the LSC-North Harris campus during his junior year, but by his graduation, only about 40 students earned a high school diploma, while even fewer students received Associate of Arts degrees.
Despite navigating the ongoing challenges of taking part in a brand-new academic program, Wright graduated from Victory Early College as Salutatorian and the only college student to maintain a 4.0 college GPA, culminating with an Associate of Arts in General Studies as Summa Cum Laude and member of the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society.
His academic success came as no surprise to Melanie Hilburn, Wright’s Business Management professor. To Hilburn, Wright stood out from the rest of his peers and vividly recalls his charisma and brilliant mind that was on display during a class assignment when he had to review a business book on a topic of his choice.
“To this day, it is the best student presentation I have ever witnessed,” Hilburn said. “After class, I approached Jamaal to praise his performance and told him, ‘You will be able to accomplish anything you want to do in life. You are a very gifted young man.’”
Wright continued his success by completing his undergraduate program in just two and a half years, earning his Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance. With his degree in hand, Wright began working at Morgan Stanley for the next five years.
Today, he continues to take on new challenges. This summer, Wright is building on his strong foundation by joining Impact Capital Managers as a 2020 Summer Associate.
Wright’s list of accomplishments does not end there, and most importantly are not exclusive to academics. President of his high school’s senior class and National Honor Society, Executive Vice-President of the Black Business Student Association at UT, and volunteering as a Math Life Skills Instructor are only a few of the noteworthy mentions on a list that continues to grow.
Lone Star College offers high-quality, low-cost academic transfer and career training education to 99,000 students each semester. LSC is training tomorrow’s workforce today and redefining the community college experience to support student success. Stephen C. Head, Ph.D., serves as chancellor of LSC, the largest institution of higher education in the Houston area with an annual economic impact of nearly $3 billion. LSC consists of seven colleges, eight centers, two university centers, Lone Star Corporate College and LSC-Online. To learn more, visit LoneStar.edu.
Jamaal Wright, Victory Early College Class of 2011