My name is Stephanie Ramsey, and I am a part of the 2022 graduating class of Tyrone Area High School. I am studying Aerospace Engineering with a focus on astronautics at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida. I am also a student-athlete on the women’s basketball team and a member of the Honors Program.

When graduating high school, I was slightly concerned that college would be too much for me, school would be too challenging, and I wouldn’t feel prepared.

That was all wrong. Tyrone prepared me in a way that has allowed me to excel throughout my degree program.

My Aerospace Engineering program is structured into 4.5 years, but the dual enrollment program at Tyrone allowed me to transfer in 24 college credits, which gave me the option to graduate in 3.5 years.

With that, I was skipping some of my general education classes and jumping straight into higher courses. I learned that my foundation from Tyrone had well prepared me and that I had a stronger foundation than other students who took the course here at Embry-Riddle.

In my math courses, I find myself tutoring other students and teaching them in a way very similar to how Mrs. Marasco taught me. I was fortunate enough to have her for all four years of high school. I teach my peers the methods and acronyms that she taught me to make calculus simpler.

In addition, the homework was set up the same as they were in high school. I use an online program that provides me with unlimited attempts to answer each question, and we have quizzes after each topic to test learning. This is very similar to the structure used in high school, and the transition to my Calculus 2 and Calculus 3 classes was very easy.

In English, I received an A on every essay I had to write. Some of my peers have no idea how to form in-text citations, format an essay, or do a bibliography. They struggle with proper grammar and style of essays. Tyrone’s English department put me above how the typical college student writes essays, and once again, I found myself proofreading my peers’ work before they submitted it.

The main science I have to take here at Embry-Riddle is Physics, and Mr. Gruber’s class prepared me very well. In my first semester I was placed into Physics 1. I was able to complete the first five chapters solely based on my high school foundation. I was also able to take an Honors Physics course in high school that was very similar to my Physics 3 course. Although I didn’t understand the material fully in high school, that course was so beneficial in providing me with the foundational knowledge to succeed at the college level. Seeing the topics beforehand allowed me to have a better understanding when I learned them for the second time.

I haven’t had to take any history courses at Embry-Riddle (thank goodness), but all of my history classes taught me how to take notes efficiently. I find myself referring back to Mr. McNitt’s dual enrollment history course where he taught us how important it is to rewrite our notes. This is now one of my favorite study habits I use when preparing for an exam. I have been able to succeed academically because of my strong foundation from Tyrone Area.

Every teacher and staff member that I interacted with at Tyrone helped prepare me in one way or another for what I am facing now, in regard to both academics and everyday life.

When I was home this past summer, I saw many of my former classmates, and they all agreed on how easy the transition was from high school to college. The classes are formatted the same way, and the workload is almost equivalent. I know this isn’t true for all college students, so I am very grateful for the preparation I received throughout my four years of high school.