More Than Just Dual Credits - Personal Growth

After graduation, I was able to enter college at George Washington University with over 30 viable class credits earned at Salem Academy through the dual credit program. The main benefits of these credits were the ability to start taking upper-level courses in my field of study freshman year, save money by eliminating unnecessary general education requirements, and avoid overpopulated (and often unnecessarily difficult) introductory classes. However, these are all things that can be found on a pamphlet on the benefits of taking college classes in high school, so I’ll try not to bore you with facts and figures that I’m sure you have already heard from school advisors or internet sources. Instead, I want to discuss the personal development that I experienced while in, and due to, dual credit classes.

When dual credit first became available for me at Salem Academy, my parents emphasized what a good decision - academically and financially - such classes were. When it became obvious that I would enroll in advanced classes either way, my mother sat down, calculated how much a credit at Salem Academy would cost compared to how much it would cost at a university and concluded that they were much cheaper. While it is a risk to invest in college credits for your high school sophomore, a person who knows basically nothing about what they actually will do post 8th period, let alone post high school, my parents took that risk - and I am incredibly grateful. Years later this gamble of theirs turned out to save me an entire year of college, as I am on track to graduate a year earlier than normal while completing two majors in nearly opposite disciplines - biology and philosophy - as well as a potential minor in chemistry and completion of pre-med requirements.

Once it was established that I would pursue dual credit courses, and I was made to understand the importance of doing well in these classes, I had to actually take the classes. Looking back now, they were not as difficult or time consuming as I thought. However, there was quite a learning curve of figuring out how to manage my time. Rigor and time management was a valuable experience to have sooner rather than later. My days in high school were always packed with a full course load, extracurriculars, studying, homework, and volunteering. This fullness kept me out of trouble and taught me quite well to tolerate, and dare I say revel in, a packed schedule. When I was 15, a full schedule meant 7 classes, swim practice, family dinner, and maybe an hour of homework a night, which was difficult at the time. As I have grown, busyness now means juggling two club leadership positions, physician shadowing, and the hours of homework resulting from approval to take more than the maximum number of credits in one semester, while still finding time to take care of myself and pursuing personal enjoyments. The only reason I can be as busy as I am now and not feel burnt out is the gradual process of increasing responsibilities as I grew throughout high school; dual credit classes definitely played a role in this.

On a more personal note, having a jump start in college did much more than advance my career prospects or save money. Some of my current closest friends were made in classes I was only able to take because of dual credit. For example, I am pursuing an additional major purely for personal interest. I didn’t think I’d have time to do something like that due to time constraints which were resolved because of my incoming credits. Furthermore, my interest in philosophy was born and cultivated at Salem Academy partially due to studying religious and philosophical issues in class as well as being allowed to indulge my curious and sometimes argumentative side in said classes.

Overall, I’m not sure what I’d be doing now had I not taken the dual credit classes I did in high school (perhaps I would be doing better, but that is something I highly doubt). While there are many technical reasons for and against such classes, as well as different circumstances that may impact a student’s ability to flourish, in my experience, dual credit classes were a wonderful opportunity that shape my abilities and opportunities still.