Motlow Dual Enrollment Program Experiences Rapid Growth

By Deidra Wheeler

Motlow Buzz Reporter

         SMYRNA, Tenn.—The Dual Enrollment program at Motlow State Community College will experience an unprecedented growth in fall 2017, providing numerous courses on a variety of subjects to high school students in the state of Tennessee.

Dual Enrollment allows high school students to gain college credits while still attending their own high school classes every day. By completing the program, students are one step ahead of regular students when they enter their first year of college. If a high school student is using the Dual Enrollment grant, then the program is completely paid for. 

MSCC’s Dual Enrollment students come from all Rutherford County schools, homeschool associations, and even surrounding areas. 

According to newly hired High School Representative for Rutherford County and the High School Programs & Digital Learning Coordinator at MSCC Mary Kay Bell, the college is expected to expand the program even more next fall. There will over 100 students attending classes on campus alone.

“Those taking Dual Enrollment classes throughout Rutherford County will be more than 300 students,” said Bell. 

Mary Kay Bell

Maggie Bollinger, 16, a junior who is homeschooled in Nolensville, Tennessee, enrolled in Motlow’s dual enrollment program in the fall of 2016. Bollinger took a sociology course in the fall. She is now finishing a psychology course. Bollinger plans to double major in psychology and physical therapy after finishing her homeschool classes in Nolensville.

Bollinger has one sister and two older brothers who have dual enrolled at MSCC, and she has a few friends who are planning to dual enroll in the future.

“Being in this program is a great opportunity of learning on the college level,” said Bollinger. “It helps to know what the classes are really like, and what it is like to have a college schedule.”

Jeremy Wright, 17, a senior at Riverdale High School, enrolled in a college dual enrollment program in the fall of 2016. The dual enrollment program offered an advanced class for Wright that was not available on the Riverdale campus. He wanted to get into the dual enrollment program to be ahead in college in the fall of 2017.

He is planning to major in Spanish after high school to become an interpreter. Wright appreciates the fact that the dual enrollment program offered an advanced Spanish class that was going to put college credits toward his college career.

            “Don’t hesitate,” said Jeremy. “Take the advantage of not having to wait until the time is necessary to take a college course.”

            Meagan Pack, 18, also a senior at Riverdale, was enrolled in a college dual enrollment program in the fall of 2016, taking an English 1010 course. She plans to take the advantage of the Tennessee Promise Scholarship in the fall of 2017 at Volunteer State Community College. With that said, Volunteer State only accepts dual enrollment credits through its campus.

            Pack wants to continue learning after high school in the veterinary science program with a goal to earn her doctorate in veterinary medicine. She plans to attend the University of Tennessee Knoxville after completing the Tennessee Promise program. Her goal is to open her own veterinary practice to help all kinds of animals.

“I was raised on the farm,” said Meagan. “This is what I wanted to do from the start.” 

Left to Right: Jeremy Wright, Meagan Pack

Bell explains that the dual enrollment program is a great benefit for anyone who is planning to further their education on a post-secondary level.

 “We have a strong enrollment with LaVergne High School, Oakland High School, and Smyrna High School,” said Bell.

A Dual Enrollment student can participate in any regular course that is offered through MSCC. As with any student, all prerequisites must be met. A student must have a 3.0 GPA; must have completed the 10^th grade; have a sub-score of 19 or greater on Math, 19 or greater on Reading, and 18 or greater on English on the ACT.

If a student does not meet the ACT requirements, they can challenge their scores by taking the COMPASS test at any MSCC campus. 

Another good factor about being a Dual Enrollment student is that there are three convenient options for someone to take a course. He or she can either take the course at you’re their zoned high school, online, or on a MSCC campus.

MSCC has 48 students from LaVergne High School who come to the Smyrna campus for either biology and chemistry each day. Another 50 or so come from a variety of other schools and homeschool programs around Rutherford County. The numbers will substantially increase in the fall of 2017.

Students who are interested in the Dual Enrollment program can apply online at http://www.mscc.edu/dualjoint/ or call Mary Kay Bell directly at (615)-220-7814. There is no fee to apply, and the process is quick and easy.

With the help of the dual enrollment program, these students are taking the advantage of getting the help they need to further their education. They see this program as a way that benefits them in the future to reach their personal goals.     

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Accidents Happen Everyday

By Ashton Fogle

            Growing up, I always wanted to become a dancer just like my aunt. My parents enrolled me in dance class when I was 3 years old, and I have been dancing ever since. (http://www.thedancersschool.com). Though I loved dance very much, it wasn’t the only thing I was interested in. 

On my 10^th birthday, I had asked my parents if I could try a new sport, soccer. When I told them what sport I wished to try, they were very shocked but also thrilled. My mom didn’t like the idea of her little girl playing soccer. She was very protective of me and didn’t want me to get hurt. My dad, on the other hand, loved the idea. He had played soccer when he was growing up, so of course that made me want to try it even more. He told me if I didn’t like it, then we would just keep trying until I found something I loved. Right then and there, I had made the decision to play soccer.

As soccer season started in summer of 2014, I was ready to play. I was eager to figure out what I wanted to do with my future. (http://arrowsup.org/girls_soccer) Our first game of the season, we won 2-0 against Cannon County. I scored the first goal. Then our second game we won 3-1 against Shelbyville. And then it all went downhill from here. Our third game of the season, we were playing Franklin High. It was 20 minutes into the first half. I was dribbling the ball down the field so close to scoring. I could feel the intensity running through my bones. As I was shooting, a girl came up behind me and completely took my legs out. I was planting my foot to shoot the ball. All of my weight was on my left leg, and that’s when the girl swiped my legs out from under me and I fell right on my knee. I heard the crowd gasp as I was falling. My teammates were running towards me asking if I was okay. I didn’t respond. I was in shock. I was in pain. All I remember is asking for water over and over again.  

In that moment I thought to myself, “What in the world just happened?” the light flashed before my eyes, and I wasn’t real sure if I was hurt or just got the breath knocked out of me. As I was lying there on the ground, my coach and a few of my teammates ran over to see if I was okay. I told them that my knee was hurting really bad, and I couldn’t straighten it. They asked me if I could stand up, so I tried, but I couldn’t walk on it. This was a pain I have never felt before. I thought it was all a dream. The trainer got there as I was trying to get up, and he carried me off the field. My mom was pretty upset because in high school soccer parents aren’t allowed to step on the field so she couldn’t even see if I was okay. The trainer took me off of the field and checked out my knee. He asked a few questions and said that I might have torn something. I looked at him and started to cry. All I could think about was, "Is this the last game I’ll ever get to play?" or "Am I going to have to have surgery?". My knee was swollen, it was throbbing and turning purple. My mom finally got to me and asked me if I wanted to go to the hospital, and of course I said no. I’ve never been to the hospital, and I was frightened of what they were going to say.

That night I went home and iced it. I couldn’t sleep at all through the night because the pain was horrifying. The next day, I went to school to see the trainer. I wanted to see if he knew anything before having to go to the doctor. He told me that my MCL could possibly be torn and I should stay off of my leg until I saw a doctor. A few days later, my mom scheduled an appointment for me with an Orthopedic surgeon. He told me that everything was fine I just needed to stay off of the knee for a couple of weeks until the swelling went down. He asked me to come back in a week or two for a follow up appointment. I did so, thinking nothing was wrong. After a few weeks I went back to dance and practicing a little with the soccer team. My knee didn’t feel the same though. I had told my surgeon that, but he persistently told me everything was fine.

After almost a year of dancing and playing on my knee, it turned out the surgeon I was going to wasn’t qualified for knee surgery, so I went to a surgeon who was qualified. His name was Michael Jordan(https://toa.com/physicians/michael-r-jordan-md) whom I personally thought was pretty awesome. Dr. Jordan told me I should get an MRI to see what was really going on inside my knee. It was going to take a couple of weeks to get the results back. During those couple of weeks, I was anxious, and scared to see what the results would be. I didn’t want my soccer or dance career to end. My results finally came back. The doctor asked me to come in so he could talk to me in person. I obviously knew something wasn’t right. Walking into the building to see the surgeon was terrifying. The doctor said there was some bad and good news. I had a torn ACL and meniscus and that I would require surgery and lots of therapy afterwards. After hearing that, my heart dropped, I didn’t know what to think. I had never had surgery in my life, and I just wasn’t expecting it. 

He scheduled my surgery for May 29, 2015. After surgery, I would have physical therapy for three months, twice a week, for two hours at a time. Therapy was very hard, especially right after surgery. You almost forget how to do some things, but once you feel that feeling of “oh I can do this”, it just gets easier and easier. During the three months of physical therapy, I learned a lot about myself and who I want to be after I graduate from high school. Physical therapy changed my perspective on things, and during it, I decided that I wanted to become a physical therapist. I want to help people get through tough times and I want to help them succeed just like I did. It’s 2016, and I am a freshman in college. I have not started playing soccer yet, but this year I did start dancing again. I didn’t realize how much I missed it until I got back in class. One day I will be ready to step back onto the soccer field and start playing again. I cannot wait until that day.