Yarielis Rosario is a senior at Battle Creek Central High School. She’s also a dual-enrolled Kellogg Community College student, taking college classes while still in high school.
Rosario keeps herself busy outside the classroom. She’s president of Central’s National Honor Society, a representative of the school’s student government and plays clarinet in the marching band, where she serves as a section leader. She’s also active at the Battle Creek Area Math and Science Center, where she serves on a student advisory board and participates in research projects related to environmental biology, a subject she hopes to study next year – along with pre-med – possibly at the University of Florida.
“I’m really amazed by how the environment’s health impacts our health, and how by making the environment’s health better you can impact your own,” she says.
It’s with such a future in mind that Rosario took a pair of English classes at KCC this year she hopes will help her get a jump on her studies after high school graduation. She says taking college classes was an “entirely new experience” compared to what she’s used to in high school.
“I liked the different structure of the classes,” she says. “At KCC, you have to put yourself into what you want to do more to ensure that you’re committed to the classes to make sure you succeed, and I like that.”
It’s also an experience she views as an opportunity that doesn’t have to end after leaving for a four-year school. As a Legacy Scholar, she says, she also has the option of coming back to take classes at KCC using the scholarship in the future.
“I really enjoyed the experience,” Rosario says. “I think it’s a wonderful opportunity that we have, that I’m able to take classes in high school while also taking classes at a college, and I can get ahead.”
If you’re a high school student interested in dual-enrolling at KCC, now is the time to start making plans for the fall semester. Your first step is to talk to your high school counselor and ask them about dual-enrolling at KCC.
For more information about dual-enrollment at Kellogg Community College, visit www.kellogg.edu/high-school-dual-enrollment or contact our Admissions office at 269-965-4153 or adm@kellogg.edu.