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SANFORD, N.C. — For 2026 Lee Early College and �ڰ������� graduate Addison Tunnard, applying to Princeton and accepting the New Jersey university’s offer of admission felt like a bit of a step into the unknown. 

“I was just taking a chance on myself, because you know, why not,” she said. 

What has been reassuring for Tunnard is the welcome she has received and what she has heard about the community from students and alumni. She said she has been pleasantly surprised by how extremely friendly everyone has been to her. 

Those feelings also reflect how Tunnard, a Sanford native, has felt about Lee Early College and �ڰ�������. 

When Tunnard first made plans to attend Lee Early College, she knew it would be a good match for her desire to challenge herself academically. Still, she figured the focus would be “plain academics.” She didn’t realize how much she would also enjoy herself and the close-knit community she would find. 

“I’ve really grown fond of all the people I’ve met, the connections I’ve made,” she said. 

Fun times included the campus-wide capture-the-flag games on the Lee Main Campus she helped to organize with the Lee Early College National Honor Society, as well as �ڰ������� student events like this autumn’s Cougar Homecoming fall festival.  

She also pointed to positive relationships with high school teachers and college instructors, such as Spanish Instructor Clyde Shafer, who she praised as both very supportive and very passionate about the Spanish language. 

As a tour guide for eighth graders considering the Lee Early College, Tunnard would emphasize the basics: that it's an opportunity for them to earn both their high school diploma and associate degree in four years. 

At the same time, she said, she emphasized to them how much Lee Early College students are connected to the �ڰ������� campus community. 

“There’s just a bunch of places for us as early college students to feel acclimated with college culture,” she said. 

That is something Tunnard has seen in her college classes, and with resources like tutoring and the college library. 

As she heads to Princeton this fall, she will be walking in already having had the experience at �ڰ������� of being a welcomed, valued college student. 

“When we’re here, the world is our oyster,” she said.