Ishmeet Dhillon: Honors to Ivy

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Ishmeet Dhillon graduated from Las Positas College in Spring 2025. She is now double-majoring in Political Science and the History of Science, Medicine, and Public Health at Yale University.

〉〉 How It Started

Straight out of high school, Ishmeet began her journey at the Las Positas Honors Program in Summer 2024. Arriving on campus that fall, she hadn’t known anyone yet, as all her previous classes were completed online. At the beginning of her college journey, she felt a sense of apprehension. Community judgment for staying close to home and not leaving for a four-year university left her with a stigma that loomed over her head. While these pressures made her believe that community college was her 'last option,' it turned out to be her best – especially through the Honors Program.

“People think that community college is the avenue that people take when either they’re poor or they weren’t smart enough to get into college. I would definitely argue [...] one hundred percent I have met some of the smartest people at community college…”

Despite common stigmas about community college, Ishmeet confidently affirms that some of the most intelligent and driven people she’s met were in the small classrooms of Las Positas. She connected with students from a variety of backgrounds and age groups – EMTs, parents, veterans, and returning students are just some examples of the people who helped her positively shift her perspective toward this academic community and pathway. Ishmeet quickly made friends with the community around her, and recalls being the most genuinely happy at this time after getting more involved on campus and seeing what Las Positas really has to offer.

〉〉 Highlights and Learning Experiences from the Honors Program

gain a deeper understanding of what exactly she wants to write about and how. She notes that frequenting her professors’ office hours helped her develop the skills that make writing papers an efficient and fulfilling task, rather than a chore. Looking back, Ishmeet understands how much her experiences with her professors prepared her for the writing level that is expected of her at Yale! One of Ishmeet’s favorite classes from her time in the Honors Program was for Honors Philosophy 1: God, Nature, & Human Nature (one of the very first fully embedded honors sections in our college!). In this class, she was challenged to construct her own perspective in deep philosophical discussions and engage with peers to collaborate on edits for research papers.

“A lot of people may think, ‘Oh, it’s a commuter school. People don’t really stay there. How are you going to find community?’ Maybe I was just lucky, but I did find a great community.”

〉〉 "What Advice Would You Give to a New LPC Honors Student?"

“Pave your own way at Las Positas, because I think everyone takes a different journey in community college, and the way that you're going to be able to get through and goal is not going to be the same as anyone else. 

I think that it's really important for you to make it the best experience for yourself and make it how you would want to grow as a person, because everyone's journey for growth is different. So go and find those opportunities that, you know, might be a little bit hitting. Go and make that club that you've been really wanting to make. Go and talk to that person you really want to talk to. Go to those office hours, you know, reach out, and you be the person that's taking the initiative, because when you're putting in the effort well, Las Positas will put the effort back into it.” 

〉〉 Where Is She Now?

Pictured above: Dr. Keller and Ishmeet at the Honors Lounge.

Currently, Ishmeet is an active student at Yale University in New Haven, CT. As a part of Yale’s Model UN and its Singapore division, she helps organize conferences with members from all over the world! Additionally, Ishmeet serves as the Website Lead for the production and design team of the Yale Global Health Review, is a member of the Business Committee for the Yale Women’s Leadership Initiative, Co-Director of Programs for the Yale Transfer Student Alliance, and is about to join Yale Policy Institute’s Substance Abuse Prevention and Harm Reduction Research Project. Ishmeet hopes to pursue law school in the future and become a practicing attorney, with an ultimate goal of becoming a judge.