Mortensen, of Cary, North Carolina, and Friedericks, of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, both graduated this year from Indiana University High School, a high school diploma program that students complete entirely at a distance.
Mortensen and Friedericks are only two of the 102 students who have graduated from Indiana University High School since its establishment in 1999. IUHS grads have been accepted at dozens of universities, including the American College of Rome (Italy), Auburn, California State, the University of Chicago, City University of New York, Columbia, Dartmouth, Harvard, Indiana, and other private and public universities.
Both Mortensen and Friedericks say they enrolled in Indiana University High School because they wanted to work at their own pace. "I had been in public school," says Mortensen, who runs her own residential cleaning business, "but I wasn't fitting in with the other students, and we didn't go at a pace that was fast enough for me."
Similarly, both graduates wanted to be challenged. "I enjoy challenges," says Friedericks. "They push me to succeed and to work harder. In the classroom, I sometimes felt held back by my classmates. With Indiana University High School, I could work at a fast rate, and this allowed me to graduate a year early from high school."
Mortensen and Friedericks also took advantage of the program's university-level dual-credit courses, which allow students to earn high school and college credit simultaneously. "I enjoyed the challenge, and I liked earning college credit," says Mortensen, who was so pleased with her dual-credit courses that she signed up for additional university courses after receiving her diploma. "I wanted to be doing something," she explains, "while I waited to start college in the fall."
Both graduates believe their IUHS experience well prepared them for college. "I believe Indiana University High School prepared me for college work better than 'normal' high school," says Friedericks. "In normal high school, you would most likely get a project or something to do in your classes. In Indiana University High School, the typical assignment asks you to read and to write papers," says Friedericks. "This, if I understand correctly, is much like college."
Mortensen and Friedericks will both enter college this fall. Mortensen will go to East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina, where she'll study chemistry and social sciences. One day she'd like to work in pharmaceutics. Friedericks will go to Indiana University in Bloomington, where he'll major in math. He hopes to become a college professor.
Established in late 1999 and accredited by the North Central Association, Indiana University High School is administered by the Indiana University School of Continuing Studies' long-standing Independent Study Program. It offers a versatile, rigorous, and flexible 109-course curriculum. More than 30 courses in the curriculum are offered online, and the number of online courses continues to grow.
Enrollees in the program come from diverse backgrounds and include home-schooled students, performing artists and athletes, students living abroad, working students, and students otherwise seeking an alternative high school program.
For more information about Indiana University High School, call 800-334-1011 or 812-855-2292, send e-mail to scs@indiana.edu, or visit the Web at http://scs.indiana.edu.
