FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 15, 2018
Contact: Wendy Smith, Assistant Vice President of Strategic Communication (307) 675-0412, wsmith@sheridan.edu
Claire Barnes, Public Relations Specialist (307) 675-0416, cbarnes@sheridan.edu
Dehlaney Schulthess walked across the stage at the Bruce Hoffman Golden Dome on Saturday to receive her Associate of Applied Science degree from Sheridan College. On Monday, she returned to class at Big Horn High School, where she is currently a senior. She will graduate from BHS with her classmates on May 27.
Lydia Mayer and Bryce Michaud, BHS seniors who received their associate degrees prior to graduating last year, inspired Schulthess to pursue her degree.
“Seeing them reach that goal made me think I could do it too,” Schulthess said. “I knew I would have to work extra hard, but it would pay off in the end.”
However, Schulthess did not start taking dual and concurrent courses until her junior year, so had to take a full college course load this year to graduate. She also worked 30 hours a week at Starbucks in addition to her studies.
“In the past, dual and concurrent students who have successfully completed their associate degrees start their courses at Sheridan College their freshman or sophomore years,” said Cody Ball, director of dual enrollment programs. “Dehlaney had to take many more credits at a time and plan carefully to achieve her degree.”
Schulthess is passionate about the medical field and has her sights set on a career as a pathologist. She shadowed Dr. William Doughty at Sheridan Memorial Hospital her freshman year and fell in love with the profession.
“I shadowed several different doctors at the hospital to see what I might want to do, but nothing interested me like pathology did,” she said.
Not surprisingly, her favorite course that she took at Sheridan College was Medical Terminology. She will attend Rocky Mountain College in Billings, Mont. in the fall where she plans to major in biology. After that, she hopes to attend medical school at Washington State University.
“I feel very prepared to move on to my bachelor’s program with the education I received at Sheridan College,” she said. “All of my instructors were great and I learned a lot.”
Ball says that dual and concurrent students not only save lots of time and money, but also acquire skills that will serve them well as they pursue higher education.
“The best thing about dual and concurrent enrollment is it teaches students how to be college students before they leave home,” said Ball. “Dehlaney will step into college as a 19-year-old who already knows how to study and manage her time. That puts her way ahead of her fellow students who have to develop those skills as they go.”
