MANSFIELD, Ohio — Rolling through the halls at Mansfield Senior High School, Talia Clifton sheepishly kept her eyes down. Her grades were fine, but the anxiety she felt in high school — that was too much to handle.
Clifton’s spinal muscular atrophy binds her to a wheelchair, and when she was in high school, humiliation.
“I’ve been called names, things have been thrown at me … I did not like high school,” Clifton said as she emphasized “not.” After her experience in high school, she didn’t trust in human kindness. She thought she would never attend college.
“I thought it would be too expensive and really hard, just like high school,” she said.
In 12th grade, however, her outlook changed. She enrolled in North Central State College’s dual enrollment English program. The program was developed so students could get ahead before entering into their first year of college. Clifton enrolled to make sure college was a safe move for her.
Not only did she receive college credit for her first year of university-level English, her experience left her wanting more of the college experience. She enrolled this fall at NCSC, clad in college khakis, with 12 credit hours and aspirations. She now wants to be a psychologist.
“I want to help people with depression and anxiety. I’m not sure how best to do that yet, but I’m getting an idea for it,” said Clifton.
NCSC has been empowering youth just like Clifton with their College NOW and dual enrollment programs for 12 years. Their primary purpose is to give high school students college experience, both to get ahead and reinforce ideas about college.
NCSC has three College NOW programs in which high school students can receive associate degrees in either engineering, business or bioscience before entering college.
Of NCSC’s 2,888 currently enrolled students, 53 percent are from Richland County and 30 percent are involved with College Credit Plus and College NOW.
NCSC’s Director of Insitutional Research Tom Prendergast said transfer rates of CCP and College NOW students are impressive. According to the data, 78 percent who enter into the Engineering Technology College NOW program transfer to a four-year degree track at schools all around Ohio. Seventy-three percent entered into a four-year degree track from the bioscience College NOW program. And 92 percent transferred from the business College NOW program.
“It gives students a head start on college. And it’s free college so what person wouldn’t want that?” said NCSC Assistant Dean Deb Hysell. “It also reduces the number of credits students have when they first start as full-time college students.”
This fall, the Ohio Department of Higher Education instituted College Credit Plus: a state-mandated program that encourages high school students to take college classes. Clifton did not, technically, participate in the CCP program. But since NCSC has had a similar program through dual enrollment, Clifton’s succesful experience captures the essence of the federal initiative.
“It’s amazing, I love it,” said Clifton when asked how her first year of college is going. “The people are a lot more friendly than they were in high school. People actually hold the door open for me.”
Andrew Kistler, 17, is someone who needs a challenge. Otherwise, he grows bored.
He has always loved math and science, but has never liked school much because of its lack of challenges — until last year. As a junior at Clear Fork High School, Kistler decided to enroll in NCSC’s College NOW program for Engineering Technology. When he graduates from high school in May 2016, he’ll receive his diploma and associate degree on the same day.
Enrolling in the program challenged Kistler. In fact, he currently has 16 credit hours between the Engineering Technology program and high school general education classes; his junior year … 19 credit hours.
“It wasn’t bad. It’s really not that hard,” said Kistler, smiling.
He spent the summer of 2015 working as a paid intern for MT Business Technologies Inc. There, Kistler discovered something significant about himself: he enjoys a challenge, but that that desire translates into a need for a sense of purpose.
Working for MTBT helped him discovered a sense of purpose. “I was making a difference for the company. I was helping out a lot.” He now works their part-time in between studying for high school English and university-level engineering courses.
For more information on how to enroll for CCP or College NOW, visit NCSC’s website or call 419-755-4800.
