Josh Taban is ending his academic and personal career at Montgomery County Community College on a high note. When the pandemic hit, the online student made so many new friends and became incredibly connected to extracurricular life. Now he’s being celebrated statewide for his achievement in the virtual classroom. 

Taban, 24, of Lower Merion, who recently completed an associate’s degree in business administration at MCCC, has been selected for the 2020-2021 All-Pennsylvania Academic Team, which is sponsored by Phi Theta Kappa (PTK), the international honor society for two-year colleges, and the Pennsylvania Commission for Community Colleges.

This recognition honors an exceptional group of community college students who have achieved academic excellence and demonstrated a commitment to their colleges and communities. To qualify, students must have completed at least 36 credits and have a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher.

“I’ve never had something like this happen to me. For me, it’s a nice way of closing my college career at Montco. It is a seal on an envelope. I’m honored.” 

Taban is originally from Los Angeles. He graduated from Allison Academy, a small high school in North Miami Beach.  

“I did not always do well academically, and Allison Academy created an environment where students can excel,” he said. “For the first time I felt good about my grades.”

After graduation, Taban took a gap year in Jerusalem and landed an internship at Made in Jerusalem, a nonprofit organization that connects and provides resources for the tech and startup ecosystem in the Israeli capital.

“I did that for two years and it was a really good experience,” he said. “I worked with startup entrepreneurs and for my first internship it was nice to be so hands-on and do real jobs. It wasn’t just getting coffee for everybody.”

As more of his family members started to move to live on the East coast, Taban’s parents followed suit and bought a home in Lower Merion to be closer to them. Taban went with them. That’s when he decided he wanted to go back to school.

“Montco was a great place to start,” he said. “It was new for me. I had been out of the classroom for such a long time. Everyone there was very supportive. During the first semester, I took public speaking and English 101. I did pretty well.”

After the pandemic hit, Taban, who was already studying completely online, suddenly began getting much more involved in virtual extracurricular activities. Online students can participate in on-campus activities, but with the exception of the photography club, which met in the afternoon, most campus activity meetings didn’t work with his schedule.

“Before the pandemic, there weren’t many activities I was able to do as an online student,” he said. “Nobody was really set up for that.”

Once more clubs and organizations became virtual, Taban found his stride. The ACT 101 Scholars Program held meetups open to the entire school. Taban joined the program’s virtual café because it was one of the first events that embraced virtual meetings. It was there he was able to express his interest in being involved with school activities. Subsequently, the ACT 101 staff referred him to Tyler Steffy, Director of Student Life, and Sarah Schenk, a coordinator of Student Life.

Through them he was offered to become an ambassador and then was exposed to many student life opportunities such as MCCC’s chapter of The Future Business Leaders of America-Phi Beta Lambda (PBL), where he became chapter president; MCCC's Student Usability Feedback Board, the Student Support Committee, the math club, Montco Radio and PTK.

“It was nice to be on a level playing field, contribute and be involved,” he said.

“If we didn’t have COVID, I wouldn’t have been able to meet students and staff. It changed my college experience. I met a ton of incredible staff and students through everyone being online.”

Now a student at Temple University studying marketing and supply chain management, he hopes to be able to attend Montco’s commencement this spring in person during one of the drive-in ceremonies

“There’s a lot of people I want to thank,” he said. He hopes others will follow his lead and think about applying to community college. “I gained a lot from it. I got great advice, I learned about myself professionally and academically. Montco was a great way to start. It’s affordable and a great environment. I don’t know what more I could have asked for.”