Trio of students graduate college before high school
The students have each earned an associate degree at local community colleges
Graduation is an exciting time for most high school students.
It's a celebration of more than a decade of work. It's the end of one phase of their journey and the start of another.
And for many students, high school graduation leads to the anticipation for the next step in their educational careers — college.
For three Berks County high school students, however, that step has already been taken.
Students from Daniel Boone, Wilson and Boyertown have each already graduated from local community colleges, earning a college degree before getting their high school diploma.
Mya Kochel, Daniel Boone
As Mya Kochel started her freshman year at Daniel Boone High School, she met with school officials to plan out her path.
The school had recently started offering an associate degree track, allowing students to pursue a degree through a combination of high-level classes at Daniel Boone and courses at Reading Area Community College.
“I just gave it a try,” Kochel said. “I figured it would be worth a shot.”
That first year, Kochel took one Advanced Placement course as part of her high school schedule. The following summer she took two online courses at RACC.
“It was very challenging, I was taking a lot of hard courses and I had a lot of extracurriculars,” she said. “But I had already planned on taking a couple of AP and honors courses, so I figured I might as well give it a shot. I got through it in the end.”
The level of work was difficult — she said she never struggled as much as she did trying to get through AP calculus — but Kochel figured it was worth the effort. It gave her a big jump start on her college education and she saved herself quite a bit of money.
When Kochel starts at West Virginia University in the fall she'll do so as a junior.
That will allow her to graduate college as a dual major in political science and accounting in just three years. Then, it's off to law school.
Kochel said she hopes to one day become a criminal defense attorney.
Kochel graduated from RACC on May 6 with an associate degree in political science. She said taking part in commencement ceremonies is something she'll never forget.
“I'm really glad I got to actually be there for it, it felt amazing,” she said, adding that she enjoyed being with a diverse graduating class made up of people of all ages with all sorts of backgrounds.
Kochel said that, despite the challenges, she would recommend her path to other highly-motived high school students.
“I would say to absolutely go for it and try it,” she said. “If you can do it, it's so worth it in the end. You get yourself so far ahead.”
As for her advice for someone trying to pursue an associate degree while in high school, she said planning is key.
“Make sure you have good time management because you're not going to be able to do all of it if you don't plan ahead,” she said. “And make sure you don't bite off more than you can chew.”
The 18-year-old Kochel, who lives with her parents Amy and Shane in Birdsboro, will graduate from Daniel Boone on June 3.
Kelly Hartman, Wilson
Kelly Hartman's grandmother, Susan Schorle, is the type of person who's always curious.
She's inquisitive, always eager to learn. And that has rubbed off on her granddaughter — in a big way.
Hartman, who is a junior at Wilson High School, has put a lot on her plate. Along with her normal high school work, she has tackled a host of high-level classes and college courses.
The result is that the 17-year-old already has an associate degree in psychology from RACC in her hands a full year before she will graduate from high school.
Hartman started her pursuit of her associate degree in the spring semester of her freshman year at Wilson at the urging of her mother, Miranda.
“I have dyslexia and I struggled in middle school,” she said. “I would cry, I felt I was stupid. My mom wanted me do something that would give me confidence in myself.”
The idea certainly paid off. Hartman took a mix of high-level high school courses and online classes at RACC, mostly online, condensed courses she was able to complete in seven weeks. She said she enjoyed the variety that RACC provided.
“I really like the classes they offered,” she said. “There were courses they don't have in high school.”
The workload was tough to manage, Hartman said, but she was able to handle it with encouragement and motivation from her mother. And on May 6 she took part in commencement ceremonies at RACC as a college graduate.
“It was exciting,” she said. “When I started off I never thought that would happen. It was exciting seeing my hard work pay off.”
Hartman, who lives in Wyomissing, still has a year of high school yet to finish, one she said she plans to fill with “fun” classes. She also will probably take a few more courses at RACC.
After that she plans to head off to college to pursue either a masters or doctorate degree in nursing.
Jared Drabick, Boyertown
Jared Drabick wasn't always a fan of school.
“I'll be the first to admit that in ninth grade and the beginning of 10th grade there were times when I felt I didn't like school, it was boring to me,” he said. “I'd think ‘When am I going to use this?'”
That all changed in the second half of 10th grade when, at the suggestion of a math teacher, he started looking into taking some business classes.
His mom, Wendy MoyerDrabick, is a business owner who teachers part time at Montgomery County Community College. She contacted an administrator there and discovered her son would be able to pursue an associate degree in business through a combination of high school and college courses.
“I thought I'd try it out,” Drabick said.
Drabick, who lives in Washington Township, had always been interested in business, mostly by watching his mom run hers. And he quickly found that business classes were right up his ally.
“I thought ‘This is really cool, I enjoy this,'” he said. “I really enjoyed learning about business.”
He took most of his classes at MCCC online, which helped him manage a pretty hectic schedule. And the effort he had to put in sparked something inside of him — a love of learning.
“Things really kind of flipped,” he said. “When I started 11th grade, everything about my school experience changed. I liked school so much more, and all of my grades improved.”
The change allowed Drabick to flourish, and he ended up graduating from MCCC on May 19.
“It was definitely a different experience,” he said. “I was surrounded by all of these people who are in different places in their life. It was really neat to think about.”
The 18-year-old Drabick will take part in his second commencement ceremony on June 3 when he graduates from Boyertown. After that, he will go to Syracuse University this fall to pursue a dual major in business and communications.