{"id":51412,"date":"2025-08-18T16:34:30","date_gmt":"2025-08-18T21:34:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/students.austincc.edu\/infohub\/?p=51412"},"modified":"2025-08-18T16:34:33","modified_gmt":"2025-08-18T21:34:33","slug":"acc-student-joins-texas-honors-institute-for-an-unforgettable-weekend-of-leadership-inspiration-and-fun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/students.austincc.edu\/infohub\/2025\/08\/18\/acc-student-joins-texas-honors-institute-for-an-unforgettable-weekend-of-leadership-inspiration-and-fun\/","title":{"rendered":"ACC Student Joins Texas Honors Institute for an Unforgettable Weekend of Leadership, Inspiration, and Fun"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What happens when hundreds of student leaders from across Texas come together for three days of learning, networking, and a friendly competition? You get the Texas Honors Institute. From July 11 through 13, members from Phi Theta Kappa Texas Chapters gathered at Texas Lutheran University in Seguin to hear from expert speakers, participate in hands-on workshops, and leave with the kind of inspiration that sticks with you long after you head home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A team of Riverbats represented Austin Community College District (ACC) at the event this year, including current students Lorali Bookout, Apollo Fisher, Ronald Ngamby, Asmaa Kajjaj, Tiffany Yap, Alexis Candiani, Joshua Sendigikoshi, Serena Rangel, and Maureen Daloia; ACC alum Carter Ibrahim; and some dedicated ACC faculty and staff, Mary Kohls and Jon-Mikel Pearson, Troy Jefferson, and Jaren Murphy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For Bookout, a 19-year-old electrical engineering major and member of ACC\u2019s Phi Theta Kappa Alpha Gamma Pi chapter, it was an experience to remember.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"755\" src=\"https:\/\/students.austincc.edu\/infohub\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/35\/2025\/08\/1755305942348-1024x755.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-51414\" srcset=\"https:\/\/students.austincc.edu\/infohub\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/35\/2025\/08\/1755305942348-1024x755.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/students.austincc.edu\/infohub\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/35\/2025\/08\/1755305942348-300x221.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/students.austincc.edu\/infohub\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/35\/2025\/08\/1755305942348-768x566.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/students.austincc.edu\/infohub\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/35\/2025\/08\/1755305942348-1080x797.jpeg 1080w, https:\/\/students.austincc.edu\/infohub\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/35\/2025\/08\/1755305942348.jpeg 1170w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cEach day started with thought-provoking speakers,\u201d says Bookout. \u201cTheir stories opened my eyes to new perspectives. As an athlete, hearing Tricia Downing\u2019s keynote changed how I see perseverance and passion. She shared her struggles overcoming an accident where she lost the ability to participate in bicycling, but through perseverance, she found a new way to achieve and love her sport. It reminded me there\u2019s always another way to keep doing what you love.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Between speeches from Downing and others, the students tackled group discussions, attended high-energy panels, and even led their own sessions. ACC\u2019s Alpha Gamma Pi Chapter hosted a workshop called \u201cTime and Project Management\u201d \u2014 the second most attended of the conference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">By the end of the weekend, students left with notebooks full of ideas and a vision for how they can make a difference at their colleges and in their communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThis conference opens conversations between schools across the state to discuss how our communities are different and similar,\u201d reflects Bookout. \u201cNow, we each have an opportunity to explore our own issues in a deeper way and find ways to make it better.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For more information about the Phi Theta Kappa Alpha Gamma Pi chapter, visit <a href=\"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/ptk\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">sites.austincc.edu\/ptk<\/a> or follow the chapter on Instagram: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/_alphagammapi\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@_alphagammapi<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What happens when hundreds of student leaders from across Texas come together for three days of learning, networking, and a friendly competition? You get the Texas Honors Institute. From July 11 through 13, members from Phi Theta Kappa Texas Chapters gathered at Texas Lutheran University in Seguin to hear from expert speakers, participate in hands-on [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":103,"featured_media":51413,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[1306,1304,1305],"class_list":["post-51412","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-for-you","tag-alpha-gamma-pi-chapter","tag-phi-theta-kappa","tag-ptk","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/students.austincc.edu\/infohub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51412","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/students.austincc.edu\/infohub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/students.austincc.edu\/infohub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/students.austincc.edu\/infohub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/103"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/students.austincc.edu\/infohub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51412"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/students.austincc.edu\/infohub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51412\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/students.austincc.edu\/infohub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/51413"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/students.austincc.edu\/infohub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51412"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/students.austincc.edu\/infohub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51412"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/students.austincc.edu\/infohub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51412"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}