Aidan Pell, of Howard City, is getting ahead on college. The 15-year-old sophomore at Tri County High School is taking college classes through the dual enrollment program at Montcalm Community College.

Dual enrollment allows students to enroll in up to 10 college classes throughout their high school career. Successful completion of a college course grants students college credit as well as satisfies one of their high school graduation requirements, either a core requirement or an elective requirement, depending on the college course taken.

“I just want the great head start that it gives you,” Pell said. “When I get out of high school, I’ll already have my associate degree.”

Pell wants to study aerospace engineering at the University of Michigan, and he said it will be easy to transfer his credits from MCC to there.

He learned about the dual enrollment program through his mom, who is an MCC alumna. He said it was also promoted at his high school.

“I was interested in the opportunity it provided,” he said.

He has taken Communications and Computer Literacy at MCC. He said a big lesson is how different college is than high school and staying focused to meet deadlines.

“I’ve learned that sometimes it can be a big challenge,” Pell said. “You have to be more on top of your work and you learn to balance your college and high school work. Being able to focus on turning work in on time and making sure I get it done can be a challenge.”

Aside from school, he loves to play soccer. He said his older brother is a soccer player, so he’s been involved pretty much since he could walk.

Pell encourages others to consider dual enrollment.

“You should join to get a great opportunity. You can get a college degree early and save so much money,” he said.