On April 22, Teagan Dreyer, wearing her cap and gown, will walk across the stage at OSU Institute of Technology as a college graduate. A month later, she’ll do the same thing at her high school graduation.

Dreyer, a senior at Morris High School, has been taking general education classes at OSUIT since the summer between her sophomore and junior years at high school. She’s earned enough college credits to graduate with an Associate in Science in Pre-Education Secondary from the School of Arts & Sciences.

“I knew I wanted to do concurrent enrollment since middle school,” said Dreyer. “I knew I wanted that advantage.”

Despite being a nontraditional college student, Dreyer was nominated and then selected as the student respondent for her OSUIT graduation ceremony.

“I’m really honored that my teachers thought of me and that they selected me,” she said, so when she was chosen she got right to work on her speech. “The graduates, we all know education is so important. I wanted to relay how important education is, whether they continue college or start their careers.”

Dreyer said she had great support from her teachers while she was attending high school and college classes.

“The teachers at my high school and the teachers here always worked with me when it came to my other classes or sports,” she said.

And Dreyer said the extra work was worth it.

“Classes at OSUIT do count for high school credits. And all the class credits here can transfer to other college programs,” she said. “It can save time; it can save a semester or two in college and that saves money.”

The fact that she’ll be a college graduate before she’s a high school graduate isn’t something Dreyer has thought a lot about. She’s already thinking about the next step in her education.

Dreyer said her plan is to pursue a doctorate degree from St. Gregory’s University in Shawnee before teaching history and psychology at the university level, and OSUIT was the first step in that plan.

“The classes at OSUIT were more challenging, and they prepared me for actual college life,” she said. “College classes are more diverse; there’s different age groups and more nationalities all learning together.”

Dreyer will address her fellow OSUIT graduates during the commencement ceremony on Friday, April 22 at 2 p.m. in Covelle Hall on the OSUIT campus.