Meet ACC student Katherine ‘Katie’ Murphy. At first glance you may not notice that she is only 17 years old and has a passion for nursing, she is also part of the Early Colleges Program.

Born in Eureka, Ill., and raised in Parker, she is part of ACC’s Early Colleges Program, and she is excited to be in it.

“I was looking for more of a challenge,” Murphy said. Part of that challenge is finishing her pre-requisite classes while she is still in high school.

“I chose Arapahoe Community College over the other schools I could go to under the program because it was close and my brother really loved it here,” she said.

“I enjoy this program because it benefits me rather than high school credits,” she said. “Taking classes at ACC, I can have my credits apply both to my high school diploma and my associate’s.”

The difference between Early Colleges and Concurrent Enrollment is slight. In Early Colleges, there is an actual campus you must go to as part of the program. But if you can test out, you don’t have to attend that extra campus for classes.

Murphy has attended Legends high school in her previous two years but decided to challenge herself with the accelerated classes through this program.

“When I finish here at ACC, I want to transfer to a four-year university,” she said. “Possibly, University of Wyoming. I am a small town person and prefer to know those around me rather than being part of a big community where you hardly know anyone.
“Despite ACC having a successful nursing program I want the experience that a four-year university offers over a local community college,” she said.

Murphy is accustomed to familiarity and experiences, and she prefers to pursue her studies through those devices rather than stay in the same place.

She loves how the program enables her to get her associate’s degree and high school diploma simultaneously, and would strongly taking this program rather than staying in a high school and taking advanced placement tests.

“The program pays for my schooling and gets me an early start on what I truly want to study rather than waiting to graduate high school then enroll in pre-requisite college courses before getting to my major,” she said. “I feel like this program offers the advantage to study early and the advantage to also study what you want in class specification rather than taking the classes everyone else has to take in high school.”