It’s a brand new day of classes. A long walk around campus with new people in a new place. You sit at a desk awaiting your professor. College is something many high schoolers dream about.

For juniors and seniors, this experience is right around the corner, but for Kylee Murray and 59 other GRC students, college is happening now.

The EKU dual credit program is a growing organization allowing eligible high school upperclassmen to take courses at Eastern Kentucky University. Ruthann Sharrock, EKU NOW Advisor, has been with the program since the beginning. “I’m kind of like the mom that goes there with you,” she says.

In Sharrock’s four years of the program she has seen a significant growth in interest. In 2015, Sharrock had 23 students going to campus. This year, she has 60.

Murray, a senior, has been in the program for the past two years. “I started EKU as a junior hoping to get ahead on college credits,” she says.

After adding EKU and AP classes, Murray will enter college with 48 credit hours. This is one of the many reasons Sharrock calls this program “the best thing GRC has ever done.”

The EKU Now program is different from other dual credit programs because it gives students the opportunity to take their classes on an actual college campus.

“Teachers anticipate that you are a responsible college student,” Murray says, “They hand you a syllabus and expect you to follow it, so if you miss something it’s your fault.”

The independence that hits a normal college student comes a few years early for the 60 dual credit students. “Being on campus has given me the opportunity to get a free preview into my future as a college student,” says Murray.

She believes that this program is the most beneficial thing GRC has to offer for preparing her for the “real world.”

Sharrock agrees adding, “The experience you get going on campus is not something you get in high school.”