Not many people begin work toward two associate degrees while in high school, but for Audrey Moore, of Aurora, the proactive approach has paid off: The West Aurora High School alum received both her Associate in Arts and Associate in Science degrees from Waubonsee Community College this month.
These accomplishments were possible through Waubonsee’s dual credit offerings, and the 20-year-old achieved them while also working as a pharmacy technician at Walmart in Batavia. While at Waubonsee, she took 15 credit hours as honors courses and is also a member of the National Society of Leadership and Success and the Vice President of Hallmark for the campus’ Phi Theta Kappa Chapter.
Moore’s academic achievements led to her being admitted to the University of Illinois as a recipient of the prestigious University of Illinois Transfer Scholarship, which distinguishes her as one of the top transfer students admitted to the school.
Moore said that during a high school advising appointment, a counselor laid out her options as she began to consider her plans for college. That is when she learned about dual credit.
“For a few of my classes, I was told I can enroll in those courses as a dual credit through Waubonsee, or just a regular class at West Aurora,” Moore said. “I went with the dual credit route for math and English and all I had to do was just placement test into one of the classes to see which would best fit me.”
Moore said that even though she only tested into high school level for those classes, dual credit was still the obvious choice.
“It was free at my high school and these dual credit classes would benefit me because the dual credit places me at a college level in those subjects by the time I start college,” she explained, adding that enrolling in the dual credit courses kept her on track to complete her associate degree in two years, whereas without them, she might have taken longer to graduate because she might have tested into remedial courses.
Moore said she wants more students to know about the benefits of dual credit offerings.
“These classes helped me prepare for an actual college class,” she said. “I started my first semester of college on the right track in all college-level courses, which kept me on the track of graduating with my degree from Waubonsee in two years. Think of dual credit as one less class you have to take at college, and one class towards your degree. If I didn’t choose to take dual credit, I wouldn’t be where I am today, on the right track.”
Now, Moore is looking forward to pursuing a career in meteorology but said these future plans were made possible because she took advantage of offerings at Waubonsee, such as College Night, which helped her to learn about career and higher education options.
“Not long after that, I discovered that I had an intense love for the STEM field and the outdoors,” she said. “Coincidentally, I was then enrolled in a geography class that covered basic elements about weather. Once my passion for meteorology had been discovered, I knew that nothing would ever stop me from becoming a meteorologist.”
Moore did an extensive review of meteorology programs at universities around the country, but said she is grateful to Waubonsee faculty member Dani DuCharme for guiding her toward U of I.
Moore will now spend her summer taking a calculus class at Waubonsee and preparing for life on a bigger campus.
“I am making the most of this because I know if I take calculus 2 at U of I, the class style will be much different and probably with 200 other students,” she said.
Moore said she’s glad she started her higher education at Waubonsee.
“Waubonsee has opened my eyes and prepared me for what is next. If I didn’t go to Waubonsee after high school, I would’ve gone to the wrong school, pursuing the wrong major, and been unhappy.”
