Marlee Merritt is bit of an academic and musical prodigy. In May, at the ripe old age of 16, he will receive both his high school diploma from his homeschool program and an associate degree from McDowell Technical Community College, where he has maintained a perfect 4.0 grade point average while taking a full complement of college transfer classes in MTCC’s Career and College Promise (CCP) Program. Passionate and fascinated by old time, bluegrass and folk music, he plays guitar, banjo, fiddle, upright bass, mandolin and piano, performing regularly at fundraisers and festivals with his peers at Academy for the Arts in Asheville, NC.
Who is Marlee?
Marlee is no ordinary 16 year old. He is polite, well-mannered, and he speaks with the intellect, confidence and poise of a young doctoral student. After finishing Calculus II with McDowell Tech’s Jennifer Culp, for whom he has the highest praise, he asked his parents for a Calculus III textbook for Christmas, even though he wasn’t taking any more Calculus classes at the college; he has a thirst for knowledge that far exceeds the average college student.
For fun, Marlee enjoys reading literature. “I’m a bit of a bookworm,” he said. He especially enjoys major fantasy novels, like J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, clocking in at over 1,200 pages, and similar works of fiction. For a little light reading, he studies Apologetics—“Why we believe what we believe,” according to Marlee. He attends Grace Community Church and enjoys participating in both their youth worship team and praise team and attending youth group, one of his major social outlets.
“Most of my friends are people I know from church,” he said. He also has a couple of furry friends, in the form of a miniature horse and a small pony, not much bigger than the miniature horse, as well as a housecat. He doesn’t appear to count the birds who nested in his mom’s porch flowers or the huge blacksnake that slithered up the porch banister in an attempt to eat the birds.
His academic and future professional interests are wide-ranging, and he is still contemplating what he plans to major in and what career he might pursue, although he is leaning slightly toward a major in biology and a career in the healthcare field, with pediatric physician coming in high on his list of career possibilities. Ultimately, Marlee has one goal: “I just want to take the gifts God has given me and develop them to the best of my ability so that I can find ways to give them back to others through service.”
College At 14
Merritt’s parents, Angela and Steve Merritt of Old Fort, knew for a long time that Marlee was bright and hardworking. In the online Christian homeschool program that Angela used for a substantial portion of his instructional program, Marlee frequently completed his grade-level work much faster than was expected. At 14, Mrs. Merritt wasn’t sure where else to turn to keep him motivated and moving forward academically.
That’s when she reached out to Betsy Ruiz, McDowell Tech’s CCP Student Success Coordinator, who also advises homeschool students and parents interested in the CCP program. They were intrigued with the flexibility and options that the program could offer Marlee, as well as the efficiency of dual enrollment. College classes Marlee could take in the CCP program would count toward his high school credit requirements as well; no need to take Algebra at the high school level and repeat it in college, for example—take the college class and be done with it.
The question of whether to enroll in the CCP program was a no-brainer for the Merritts, and Marlee started right away. Practically speaking, Marlee saw little difference in his daily schedule and activities over what he had been used to in homeschool. All of the classes he has taken through McDowell Tech have been online, just like he had experienced in his online homeschool program, albeit at a more advanced level at the college. Homeschooling, said Marlee, provided him with a lot of one-on-one interaction with his instructor, and instructors in his online college classes have been just as accessible, some more so. Online discussion forums have also given him more interaction with fellow students at the college level. He’s never mentioned his age, and no one seems to have noticed.
Flexibility, Options, Efficiency and Cost Savings
Marlee and his parents are profuse with praise for McDowell Tech, the CCP program, Marlee’s college instructors and Mrs. Ruiz. “Mrs. Ruiz gave us so many options,” said Mrs. Merritt. “We’ve been able to customize the program to what we needed, and Marlee’s been able to move through things at a quick pace. I’ve recommended it (the CCP program) to many people.”
“It was nice to get two years of free college,” said Mr. Merritt, “but it was really nice to have dual enrollment. That’s put him ahead two years and gives us so many options. Being ahead, if he wants to take half a load of courses (as he goes on to a four-year college), or if he wants to take a year off to pursue his music, he can do that, or pursue other things. It has created so many options for him.”
“It (dual enrollment) sets people up for success,” added Mrs. Merritt.
Mr. and Mrs. Merritt also noted that the flexibility of online classes has allowed Marlee to deal with emergencies or schedule other things he wants to do, since he can work ahead and create a window of time to fit in personal pursuits. Marlee has traveled a time or two with his mom and dad, who is a pilot flying frequently into Tel Aviv, Israel. This past Christmas, he and his parents also went with a group from their church on a tour of the Holy Land, which was Marlee’s early graduation present. And when Marlee got sick and spent two weeks in the hospital and another week recuperating at home, he did not get behind because he had worked ahead and completed a history essay online from his hospital bed.
“I love learning and soaking up knowledge,” said Marlee. “I’ve been able to get two years of free college education under my belt and it’s paid for. I’m a step ahead, all around. It’s a win-win for me.” He concluded with praise for several instructors: Jennifer Culp (Math), Chuck Bowling (Biology), Kelly McFarland (English) and Chip Cross (Economics).
“The CCP program is designed to allow a great deal of flexibility for high school students to take free college classes, and can be especially helpful for the homeschool students and their parents who may need more options than they have available to them in other places,” said Dr. Brian S. Merritt, MTCC President (no relation to Marlee or his parents). “Marlee is an exceptional student who has taken full advantage of our CCP options. Whether a student wants to be work-ready more quickly, or wants to pursue additional higher education, the CCP program is a great—and free—option.”
For more information on the CCP program and an admission application, visit https://mcdowelltech.edu/career-college-promise/ , or contact Emilee Crowder at 828-659-0427 (traditional high school students) or Betsy Ruiz at 652-0621 (homeschool, private, and charter school students).
