Dual Enrollment Student Receives Prestigious Scholarship

Julian “Jules” Lees is a high school senior and a dual enrollment student at Community College of Philadelphia through a partnership with MaST Charter schools, allowing him to graduate from high school this May with 69 college credits and an associate degree in Health Care Studies. Next up for Jules is embarking on the next leg of his educational journey—an undergraduate degree at Swarthmore College. That degree from Swarthmore will be fully funded by a prestigious scholarship from QuestBridge, a National College Match program that gives students who excel academically an opportunity to attend one of the nation’s top institutions for free, despite their financial hardship.

“I really thought this was like a huge gamble,” Jules said. “I was in my AP Psych class...And all of a sudden, I just see...the email notification of, ‘Your decision has been released.’ So, I opened it. And I was met with confetti. I felt like my jaw literally dropped.” Jules applied to the scholarship thinking it would be a long shot to actually get it. “Immediately I went to my teacher, and I said, ‘Can I go to Miss Taylor?’ Because that was one of the teachers that wrote me a letter of recommendation. I Rocky Balboa’d up the steps.” Even months after receiving the news, Jules still gets excited when he thinks about the fact that he will now go to college for free.

Jules is also grateful for his time at CCP and happy that he decided to pursue dual enrollment. “I'm really glad that I did it because I feel like it challenged me in a way that just purely taking high school classes would not have challenged me,” he said. Jules was looking to push himself a bit more in his last years of high school. And he’s been involved on campus outside of the classroom too. "At CCP, I'm involved in the Student Government Association. I'm the senator at the Northeast Regional Center. Last year, I helped orchestrate a talent show on campus, and we also had a thrift event,” Jules said. 

With all this experience already under his belt, Jules will likely transition smoothly into student life at Swarthmore, a school he chose because it had several of the qualities he’s looking for in an undergraduate institution. “I really wanted to have smaller class sizes and more intimate connections with the faculty members to have that hands-on treatment from professors,” he said. “And I really liked the interdisciplinary approach that they have to education.” 

Thanks to his hard work and personal ambition, Jules doesn’t have to worry about how he’s going to pay for school for the next few years. CCP is proud to offer dual enrollment options for Philadelphia high school students looking to get ahead on earning college credit or just looking for an extra challenge, like Jules. You can learn more about our dual enrollment program here. Julian “Jules” Lees is a high school senior and a dual enrollment student at Community College of Philadelphia through a partnership with MaST Charter schools, allowing him to graduate from high school this May with 69 college credits and an associate degree in Health Care Studies. Next up for Jules is embarking on the next leg of his educational journey—an undergraduate degree at Swarthmore College. That degree from Swarthmore will be fully funded by a prestigious scholarship from QuestBridge, a National College Match program that gives students who excel academically an opportunity to attend one of the nation’s top institutions for free, despite their financial hardship.

“I really thought this was like a huge gamble,” Jules said. “I was in my AP Psych class...And all of a sudden, I just see...the email notification of, ‘Your decision has been released.’ So, I opened it. And I was met with confetti. I felt like my jaw literally dropped.” Jules applied to the scholarship thinking it would be a long shot to actually get it. “Immediately I went to my teacher, and I said, ‘Can I go to Miss Taylor?’ Because that was one of the teachers that wrote me a letter of recommendation. I Rocky Balboa’d up the steps.” Even months after receiving the news, Jules still gets excited when he thinks about the fact that he will now go to college for free.

Jules is also grateful for his time at CCP and happy that he decided to pursue dual enrollment. “I'm really glad that I did it because I feel like it challenged me in a way that just purely taking high school classes would not have challenged me,” he said. Jules was looking to push himself a bit more in his last years of high school. And he’s been involved on campus outside of the classroom too. "At CCP, I'm involved in the Student Government Association. I'm the senator at the Northeast Regional Center. Last year, I helped orchestrate a talent show on campus, and we also had a thrift event,” Jules said. 

With all this experience already under his belt, Jules will likely transition smoothly into student life at Swarthmore, a school he chose because it had several of the qualities he’s looking for in an undergraduate institution. “I really wanted to have smaller class sizes and more intimate connections with the faculty members to have that hands-on treatment from professors,” he said. “And I really liked the interdisciplinary approach that they have to education.” 

Thanks to his hard work and personal ambition, Jules doesn’t have to worry about how he’s going to pay for school for the next few years. CCP is proud to offer dual enrollment options for Philadelphia high school students looking to get ahead on earning college credit or just looking for an extra challenge, like Jules. You can learn more about our dual enrollment program here.