Collin Alum Mary Nguyen

Fast Track: High School Student Earns College Degree

Dressed in a vibrant blue gown, with a mortar board on her head and an honors cord draped around her neck, Mary Nguyen took her first tentative steps toward the Allen Event Center stage. Like the other Collin College graduates, she was excited. But Nguyen was different from those standing with her in the procession line. A 17-year-old high school student, she would be walking across the stage at her college graduation a month before she graduated from high school. It was a moment that she will never forget.

“I saw my professors in the audience, and they were all really excited. My parents and family and friends were there. I was proud of myself. I graduated twice in one year. Friday, I walked across the stage, and Monday I went back to high school,” Nguyen said, laughing.

Nguyen graduated with honors in both high school and college. She was officially awarded a Collin College associate of science degree in August after completing two summer courses. Today, while many of her high school peers are college freshmen, Nguyen is a junior at Texas Tech University. She is two years and one college degree ahead of other students her age.

Collin Alum Mary NguyenRefining the Fast Track Recipe

Nguyen’s parents left their homeland during the Vietnam War and settled in the U.S. Her mother wanted to become a nurse but opted to raise her children and continue the engineering career she had prior to immigrating. As a young girl, Nguyen decided she wanted to do something in the medical field. With her mother’s encouragement, she began volunteering in a dog therapy program at a local hospital.

“I saw patients get better. They had breathing tubes, and then they were walking around about to be discharged. Nurses make a huge difference in people’s lives. I realized I wanted to be in that environment,” Nguyen said.

Nguyen applied to the PISD Health Sciences Academy and began taking Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) dual credit classes in addition to advanced placement and honors classes. Many students might have stopped adding courses at that point, but Nguyen opted to give up her social life and take additional college classes.

“I thought why not take classes at Collin, shorten my time at a university and earn my associate degree as well. Taking EMT classes in high school and normal high school classes and going to Collin at night was really tough,” she admits.

While she was driven to earn a college degree before she attended a university, Nguyen also wanted the typical high school experiences.

“Collin College is close, so I got to stay at home and be a normal kid. Some people graduate from high school a year early and then go to Collin to get ahead, but I wanted to experience prom and be in high school, so I decided I would just do it all,” she said.

Nguyen took college classes in the evenings and each summer, and she discovered hidden benefits. Information overlapped in her EMT, high school and college biology and anatomy and physiology classes. Each time she reviewed cell anatomy and function, the immune system and the electron transport system she had a greater mastery of the information.

“Taking the classes at the same time helped. Collin College classes are amazing. The professors are very helpful. They do not want you to fail. They are always there if you have questions. I liked the in-depth lectures and the math lab,” she said.

Saving Time and Money

Nguyen says she was impressed with the free tutoring she received at the college’s math lab. She also borrowed text books from the library to do her homework.

“The same classes you can pay hundreds of dollars for cost me 10 times less. I don’t think there is anything wrong with that at all. You might as well go the smarter route. I know a bunch of university students that come to Collin College in the summer. The classes are not easier. You are saving money, so I don’t understand why you wouldn’t do that,” Nguyen added.

Living at home and saving money on tuition, books and tutoring are not the only ways Nguyen will benefit financially. She has the skills and the national EMT certification to work in a field she loves, and she is several steps closer to nursing school.

“My parents are very supportive of what I do. In the end, I am very glad I did it. It will help my parents out a lot financially. They will not have to pay hundreds of dollars for classes, and I will be able to earn $20 an hour as an EMT.”

For more information about dual credit classes at Collin College visit https://www.collin.edu/gettingstarted/dualcredit/.

 

Reprinted with permission of Allen Image