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Belding High School senior Jenna Lynn decided to give college a test run before going off to a university.

She started the dual enrollment program at Montcalm Community College during spring semester of her sophomore year and has been taking classes at MCC for more than two years now.

“After my first dual enrollment class I realized I enjoyed learning different things that I couldn’t learn in a high school level class,” she said.

Dual enrollment allows students to enroll in up to 10 college classes throughout their high school career. Successful completion of a college course grants students college credit as well as satisfies one of their high school graduation requirements, either a core requirement or an elective requirement, depending on the college course taken. 

“My favorite part about dual enrollment is by far the free college credit, it is saving me so much money,” Lynn said.

For her, the most challenging part of dual enrollment is trying to balance work, high school, full-time college and maintaining a life.

“I would recommend dual enrollment to students that don’t know if college is right for them so they can see if they enjoy it before spending a lot of time and money,” she said. “I would also recommend it to students that know they want to go to college and want to get some free college credits.”

She will graduate from MCC in May with an Associate of Science & Arts degree.

“I am saving so much time and money as a dual-enrolled student,” she said. “The hard work will pay off and because of it I will be the first in Belding to graduate high school with my associate degree.”

Lynn’s favorite course she has taken at MCC is BIOL 121 - College Biology I with Dr. Michelle Gibson, who is her favorite teacher.

“Michelle was an amazing professor and made learning fun and exciting again,” Lynn said. “She is an incredible person with a good personality. She gets to know the students on a personal level and makes you enjoy learning.”

She said for her the biggest difference between high school and college is the workload.

“I have experienced more readings and assignments due at a faster rate than I did in high school,” Lynn said.

Along with her education, Lynn works cleaning the front office at Aggressive Tooling. She said she doesn’t have much spare time anymore, but when she does, she likes to spend time with family and friends.

“They are very important to me, and I wouldn’t be where I am today without their help and support,” Lynn said.

Her future plans are to attend Ferris State University, where she will study to be an optometrist.

Media contact:
Shelly Springborn
Director of Communications and Public Relations
shellys@montcalm.edu
989-560-0833