Craig receives associate degree before high school

She graduates first from Georgia Northwestern Technical College as part of Georgia’s Move On When Ready program.

Miette Craig of Rossville had to leave classes at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga early on Thursday in order to go to Rome and make it to Georgia Northwestern Technical College’s 2017 Spring Commencement Ceremony to receive her associate degree in Business Management.

In a few weeks she will attend another graduation ceremony to receive her high school diploma. “It just feels so good to get that much of a head start and save so much time,” said Craig.

Through the Move On When Ready program at GNTC, Craig was able to complete her associate degree while still in high school and begin attending classes at a four year college at the age of 17.

“I am going to be the youngest person at UTC this semester, which is awesome, and I will have my bachelor’s degree in Business Administration when I am 20,” said Craig. “After that I am going straight for my MBA.”

According to Craig, completing her associate degree while in high school meant a lot of hard work, staying focused and planning ahead.

“At first I didn’t think I would have time to complete my associate degree,” she said. “Then when we planned out the schedule and realized that I could complete my degree if I went to school during the summer, I was like ‘I’m going to go for it.’”

Craig’s mother, Bre LaMountain, said she knew that Craig would make it once she set her mind to it. “Miette took 15 credit Miette Craig hours per semester, sometimes every summer, and she went constantly and did it on her own,” said LaMountain. “She took no breaks and she just plugged away.”

Georgia’s Move On When Ready dual enrollment program allows qualified high school students to maximize their education and career training by taking courses that earn college and high school credit at the same time.

For three consecutive years, GNTC has had the largest number of MOWR students out of all of the technical colleges in the state of Georgia, according to the “High School Collaborative Enrollment: Academic Year 2016” report issued by the Technical College System of Georgia.

Craig attended classes at GNTC’s Walker and Catoosa county campuses and online. “I love the new Catoosa Campus, it is so beautiful, and it is much closer to me and it made everything easier,” said Craig.

In addition to her associate degree in Business Management, Craig also earned a Human Resource Management Specialist Certificate, Supervisor/Management Specialist Certificate and Technical Management Specialist Certificate through the MOWR program at GNTC.

“Miette is one of those driven students that has personal goals and doesn’t like wasting time getting there,” said Gerald McFry, director of the Business Management program at GNTC.

Craig’s interest in business and entrepreneurship stems from the fact that since she was 15, she has owned her own small business of hand-made jewelry that she creates. “I make jewelry, and I am an artist, but I really like the business side of it,” said Craig. “I work for myself, which is really nice because it allows me to focus more on school.”

Craig says she ships to 25 different countries. To see her jewelry business go to www.etsy.com/shop/EarthlyIndigoDesigns.