For my senior year of high school I took all of my classes at Kent State University's Regional Academic Center in Twinsburg, Ohio through a program known as College Credit Plus. This is a program that differs state to state but essentially it allows you to take college classes, at no cost to you, while you're still in high school. While not all of these credits will transfer if you choose to go to a private school all public schools in Ohio are required to accept these credits. This means that you are taking classes both towards your high school graduation requirements and your college credits. This program goes by several other names as well, such as post-secondary and dual enrollment.
While I didn't get the full college experience at the campus I chose to attend I definitely got to experience real college classes. Personally, I made the decision to take my classes at Kent just to get the experience of college classes as well as to explore my interests a little more before I started college. Mainly, I did it because I felt that I was ready to move on from high school and needed a change in environment. The adjustment to not being around my friends was a little hard at first but I felt engaged in my classes for the first time in a long time. At the same time, I was making new friends and learning subjects that were not offered at my high school such as psychology and geography.
For the first month or two I felt a little weird and left out not being around my friends at school. We all had almost the same class schedule since sixth grade and when I did see them it was weird not being able to jump into their conversations about school. However, after the initial period of transitioning and getting comfortable with my new surroundings, I found that I was so much happier with the decision I made. From my last year of high school, I definitely received an advantage over many of my peers. Even if my credits do not transfer I was able to feel out the class schedule that works best for me so that for my first year of college I could choose a schedule I know will work for me. My first semester at Kent I had class Monday, Wednesday and Friday starting at 8 am. I didn't mind this schedule but as the semester wore on I found it a lot harder to get up at 8 am. I also found it a lot harder for me to focus since all of my classes were back to back. My second semester I definitely liked my schedule a lot more. I had class Monday through Thursday. However, my classes started later, around 10 am, and I had breaks between my classes. I found that having breaks between my classes helped me because I would do my homework between classes but once I got home I never wanted to do my homework.
Other than just learning what schedule works best for me I learned time management, motivation, organization and that reaching out to your professors and asking for help is never a bad idea. I met with several of my professors outside of class throughout the year and I found that because of this my professors seemed more than willing to work with me. My professors took the time to help me with homework problems, go over tests and even read over my ideas for papers with me.
Overall my experience with dual enrollment was nothing but positive. I got to learn my preferences for college scheduling, explore my interests, meet new people and gain a little more independence.
