Braden River High School senior graduates high school, college

BRADEN WOODS — Braden River High School senior Mandy Peebles had just stumbled upon a post on Braden River High School’s website from June 8, 2011.

The “Pirate of the Day” article noted Peebles, if all went as planned, would graduate with an associate’s degree before earning her high school diploma the following year.

And now, with high school graduation just a week away, Peebles can’t contain her smile.

“I’m actually doing it,” Peebles said, holding a printed copy of the article before her.

The 17-year-old graduated from the State College of Florida with an associate’s degree May 5, and now will walk across the stage at the Manatee Civic Center with hundreds of other graduates May 31, to accept her high school diploma. She’ll graduate in the top 1% of her class at Braden River, as well.

“We’re very proud,” Mandy’s mom, Laurie, said. “She’s very determined.”

Mandy says she’s always known she wanted to go into the medical field and recognized early on that she would spend many years in school to fulfill her dream.

“My freshman year, I took one (Advanced Placement) classes and two my sophomore year,” Mandy says, adding she hoped to speed up her college studies. “That got me in the mode of getting college credits. I thought dual enrollment was a better option for me than AP classes.”

She entered Manatee County’s dual-enrollment program her junior year, at which time she took college-level classes and college exams in lieu of Advanced Placement tests. By then, Mandy already had begun the county’s on-the-job training program, which allowed her to leave school early and work about 20 hours a week, as well.

Heading into her senior year of high school, however, she grew even more determined.

“I want to be a pharmacist,” Mandy says. “I knew what classes I needed to take to fulfill (my requirements). I was motivated to save time.”

“I have a goal and I want to get there as fast as I can,” she says. “I know what I need to do and what it takes to get done. I decided doing full time at SCF (was best for me).”

So, as a senior at Braden River, Mandy began her college studies, taking part in the early-enrollment option offered through Manatee County schools and the State College of Florida. This year, she took general chemistry, biology, statistics, speech, calculus and a slew of other courses at SCF.

Mandy says she’s loved her schedule, which stacks her college classes two days a week and gives her more flexible hours for working and studying.

“(Early admission) prepares you for college,” she says. “You’re actually in college.”

Between work at a local chiropractor’s office and college classes, Mandy admits she doesn’t have much free time, but she’s still made sure over the year to see friends at Braden River, attend football and volleyball games and participate in the school’s other activities. She’s even carved out enough time to complete more than 1,000 hours of community service over the last four years, including time spent tutoring and participating in missions trips and other activities with her church, Bible Baptist.

“I don’t feel like I missed out on anything,” Mandy says. “I just feel like this has been a better path for me.”

Mandy, a resident of Braden Woods, attended Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine Bradenton’s Human Body Explorers program her freshman and junior years and now hopes to be admitted into LECOM’s pharmacy program in 2013.

Contact Pam Eubanks at [email protected].