Campus & Community

In the short time that Shanice Guthrie has been attending Palm Beach State College, she has come to notice the strong unity among its diverse student population. However, she has also noticed that many students feel detached from the school.

This is something she hopes to change as the newly appointed PBSC student trustee for the 2018-19 academic year.

“Students are mostly unaware of the vast array of services and benefits that is provided at their disposal,” said Guthrie, who is a student in the Dr. Floyd F. Koch Honors College at Palm Beach State. “Others have proposals for the betterment of the school but were unaware of the appropriate channels to voice their suggestions.”

She will attend her first District Board of Trustees meeting Aug. 14, serving as the voice for the College’s nearly 49,000 students. She is the 18th student to serve in the position.

A native of Jamaica, Guthrie graduated from Royal Palm Beach High School in 2017 and lives in West Palm Beach.  She was chosen by a committee after an application and interview process open to all PBSC students with at least a 3.0 grade point average and at least 24 credit hours completed. She was among 10 students who interviewed for the role.

When she learned she was chosen, she cried.

“I wanted this role so bad because I have a drive and a passion to motivate others, and I believe this is the perfect opportunity for me to do that.”

Guthrie, who is currently pursuing her Associate in Arts degree with a focus on philosophy and psychobiology, has a 4.0 GPA and is a member of Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society and the Student Government Association on the Lake Worth campus.

She plans to do a series of videos that will be posted on PBSC’s social media channels and others to introduce herself to the student body and to give her the opportunity to express her ideas and encourage students.

One idea she hopes to implement is to have PBSC student clubs travel to local area high schools to educate students on what’s available at the College as a complement to the Palm Beach State’s already established recruitment efforts.

“I hope students can come to PBSC already knowing what the College could offer them and not finding out sometime afterward,” Guthrie said. “I also hope that more students make PBSC their first choice after high school because they see that there is so much more available to them here.”

After PBSC, Guthrie hopes to attend John Hopkins University and become a cardio thoracic surgeon.  More importantly, however, she hopes she can always be an inspiration to people who don’t believe that they can accomplish their goals.

The student trustee role is a non-voting role that was created by the District Board of Trustees in 2001.