CP! Swimmer uses Dual Credit to Sprint to Degree

Melanie Paulsen doesn’t take the easy road. Ever.

This homeschooler is 17 years old and happily entrenched in one of the most grueling dual credit options with CollegePlus!. She’s halfway through her bachelor’s degree in Natural Science and Mathematics. When she’s not studying, she’s swimming for two different teams and coaching a swim team of her own.

Watch our interview to discover how Melanie is using dual credit to sprint to her degree:

Thanks to dual credit and CollegePlus!, Melanie will be graduating from high school and college next spring. While her teammates will be swimming in their undergrad years, she'll be swimming in graduate school.

Ask a group of people to describe Melanie and one of the words that will keep coming up is determined. This homeschooler isn’t afraid of doing what it takes to succeed, even if that means sacrificing time.

“It takes me fifty minutes to get to practice,” she said. “My teammates think I’m crazy but it’s worth it. I do more with my life than just swim. It takes up quite a bit of my time but I have boundaries.”

Boundaries are something that her family has worked hard to keep. Melanie’s dual credit course work takes up a lot of time. And then, there’s always swimming.

“Like with any sport, swimming takes up time,” her mother, Tracy said. “There are kids whose lives completely revolve around swimming. But we want to make sure Melanie has a balance. So we don’t compete on Sundays, we don’t do daily doubles - she’d be spending eight hours a week in the pool. It has gotten tougher as she’s become a more serious swimmer but we just make sure that the coaches are aware of where we stand as a family.”

Tracy, an engineer by training, makes sure that the family runs smoothly. Melanie and her younger brother Matthew, have a daily schedule that they reference to keep themselves on track with their homeschooling. Matthew is still in junior high while Melanie plows through the dual credit program CollegePlus! designed for her. The schedule is broken down to half-hour increments and is stuck to the side of the refrigerator for everyone to check regularly.

Melanie swims at last two hours every day and studies about six hours to keep on track with dual credit. She’s strict about her bedtime and somewhat strict about her diet. There's always room for a trip to Eegees, her favorite restaurant.

Ask Melanie what if CollegePlus! and dual credit fits into her life and she’ll answer you frankly. “CollegePlus! is a 100% fit into my lifestyle,” Melanie said. “It works around my schedule.”

Want to know how you can make college fit into your schedule? Interested in discovering how dual credit can work for you? Click here to find out how CollegePlus! can help you.

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CP! Swimmer uses Dual Credit to Sprint to Degree

Watch our interview to discover how Melanie is using dual credit to sprint to her degree:

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