Name: Taylor Pfeifer
Hometown: Reiles Acres, N.D.

Taylor Pfeifer, a senior at Northern Cass High School, is celebrating a huge milestone in her education. While Pfeifer is leaving Northern Cass with a high school diploma, she is also leaving with her associates degree from VCSU! Although the journey had its ups and downs, she’s been grateful for the opportunity to jumpstart her college education.

What activities are/were you involved in during high school?

In high school I was involved with One Act, Science Olympiad, 4H (as vice president, president, and secretary), along with AIAS as a high school senior! (AIAS is the American Institute of Architecture Students at NDSU).

Did you have any mentors or teachers who were especially supportive during this time? 

Especially during my senior year, my most supportive teachers were Mr. Sitte and Mr. Krinke. They both encouraged me and kept me motivated through all the dual credit and college classes I took throughout high school, with Mr. Sitte offering me more flexibility considering my extensive workload in my senior year. Without their positivity, I wouldn’t have been able to accomplish as much as I have in my high school years!

How did you manage the workload of high school and college at the same time? 

What helped me to manage both college and high school at the same time was setting reminders for homework and errands, creating a manageable schedule for myself, and completing homework in a timely manner after its been assigned. I enjoy being a busy individual which gave me a lot of motivation to handle high school and college at the same time.

How does this achievement impact your next steps after graduation? Are you planning on continuing your education? If so, where do you intend to go and what are you going to major in?

Getting my associates degree as I graduate high school means that I have significantly less classes to take in college and gives me more time to dedicate towards my major and the projects I’m assigned. Along with the possibility of more scholarships, getting my diploma and my associates gives me massive bragging rights. Going into college I plan to attend NDSU for Architecture, where I will hopefully attend my second year as an architecture student!

What advice do you have for current high school students taking dual credit classes? 

My best advice towards anyone taking dual credit classes is to persevere through the added challenge as it will save you significant time and money! Dual credit courses will help me have a less stressful workload in college and might be easier than an equivalent class that a college offers. Take on the challenge in your high school years so your college years will be less stressful!

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