GMC News

Chase Sheffield to graduate from GMC’s Prep School and College on same day

(Chase Sheffield will graduate with both his high school diploma and college degree on the same day.)

18-year-old Chase Sheffield is making history as GMC’s first Prep student to graduate with a high school diploma and Associates degree from Georgia Military College. On the morning of May 26, Sheffield will graduate with an Associate of Arts in General Studies from GMC. Later that evening, he will receive his high school diploma from GMC’s Prep School. Sheffield says he’s excited to receive his college degree before receiving his high school diploma.

“I’m the first one that’s ever done it and that’s pretty exciting,” said Chase Sheffield. “I’ve been taking dual enrollment classes through the Move On When Ready Program (MOWR) since I was in 10th grade and if I never had transferred to GMC’s Prep School in 9th grade I would’ve never had the opportunity to do most of the things I’m doing.”

Sheffield is a native of Gray, Georgia. He says graduating with his high school diploma and an Associate’s degree became a goal of his in the 9th grade.

“I started taking dual enrollment classes really early so that I would have enough to graduate,” said Sheffield. “It was an idea that I had in 9th grade when I first transferred to GMC’s Prep School and started talking to my guidance counselor about it. I decided that I could probably do it if I took a few dual enrollment classes in place of Advancement Placement (AP) classes, but I still took AP classes and Honor classes as well.”

Sheffield will graduate as the Prep School’s 2017 Salutatorian with a 4.0 GPA in both high school and college. He says he made a strong effort to balance his rigorous academic courses and extracurricular activities. During his senior year at GMC Prep, Sheffield was the 2nd Battalion Executive Officer, captain of the football team, captain of the golf team, member of the tennis and raider teams, Student Government Association Vice President, and a member of the Math Honor Society. Sheffield will continue his education on a 4-year Army ROTC scholarship to the University of Tennessee where he will double major in Mechanical Engineering and Finance.