Five CCHS seniors graduate from CTC

Special to the Leader-Press 

Friday night, five Copperas Cove High School students became college graduates.
As part of CCHS’ Dual Credit program, five CCHS seniors earned either their Associate’s Degree or a certification from Central Texas College at the school’s fall graduation on Dec. 8th.
Madison Sims and Elijah McLaughlin both walked the stage with their Associate’s Degrees on Friday.
Sims graduated with Honors from CTC.
“After high school, I will be attending the University of Texas at San Antonio to study public health,” Sims said. “With this Associate’s Degree, I will be almost halfway to completing my Bachelor’s Degree, which will allow me to apply for medical school to study anesthesiology even sooner.”
McLaughlin, who is graduating a semester early from Cove, earned Highest Honors from CTC.
“This will allow my resume to look impressive to many jobs and has allowed me to complete almost every prerequisite needed for the nursing program I would like to get in to,” McLaughlin said. “So, this degree will jumpstart my life and decrease the financial burden placed on me and my family.”
In addition to the pair of two-year degrees among the Cove students are three HVAC certifications for Cameron Robinson, Ayden Trevino and Collin Wright.
“The hardest part of this journey was balancing work, high school and college,” Robinson said. 
However, even the HVAC certification goes well beyond the score of just heating and air conditioning.
“The most rewarding part of being in the HVAC program is being able to take something that’s broken and be able to fix it all on your own,” Trevino said. “The hardest part for me was basic electricity, because there was so much information to learn. However, because of this, I now understand how the majority of things that use electricity work.”
Wright added, “My certificate will be of great help in finding jobs and other career paths right after I graduate from high school.”
Additional students are scheduled or on-pace to earn their certifications and Associate’s Degrees from CTC in the spring.