Peachtree – “It took courage to get through high school, and it will take courage to become our generation’s innovative thinkers and leaders.”
This was Tri-County Early College High School summa cum laude student presenter Domenic Calascione’s commission to the graduating Class of 2023 on Saturday morning. He graduated with his high school diploma as well as an associates degree in arts and science.
“I’m going to the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University to study aerospace engineering,” Calascione said shortly before the graduation ceremony.
He also plans to go into the U.S. Air Force as a fighter pilot.
“If I am capable, I should serve,” Calascione said.
The 24 classmates who graduated along with him in the Enloe Building at Tri-County Community College matched his ambitions.
Braylee Miles-Anderson, a summa cum laude who was graduating with an associate of arts degree along with her high school diploma, was among 11 other graduates wearing a purple cord denoting a N.C. Academic Scholar. She plans a career as a congressional aid.
“I want to affect policy like abortion laws,” she said.
Miles-Anderson will attend Western Carolina University along with fellow graduate Carmelita Cote, a magna cum laude scholar who earned an associate degree in arts and science. Cote will study pharmacology and share a dorm room with Miles-Anderson.
Summa cum laude graduate Antonio Vega, 17, graduated a year early with his high school diploma and an associates degree in science and arts. He followed in the footsteps of his aunt, Rachel Robinson, who graduated from the Early College in 2017.
“He did it all on his own,” said Kymberly Robinson, Vega’s mother.
“It’s become my school now,” Vega said. “I wanted to graduate early so I can keep learning. I want to continue seeking an education.”
He and fellow classmate Dylan Ritz will attend the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill together. Ritz, wearing a purple cord as a Beta Scholar, was grateful to his high school in Cherokee County.
“College is expensive, and I’m happy to get the classes that don’t necessarily pertain to my major (genetic science) out of the way for free,” Ritz said. He plans to study the human genome. “I want to stop treating symptoms and eradicate the disease itself.”
Principal Jason Forrister opened the ceremony to a packed auditorium and later presided over the presentation of the seniors.
English faculty member Marianne Leek observed that this graduating class was especially close.
“They take good care of each other,” she said, attributing their camaraderie to COVID-19, she said.
“They had just finished their first semester as freshman when COVID hit,, so when they came back, they were juniors and worked to create relationships.”
Leek played a role in that social developmental.
“At heart, teaching is always about relationships,” she said. “Life is about
relationships.”