Rachel Shannon, business administration major at Wichita State University, earned 64 college credits before setting foot on campus.

Shannon spent her high school years driving between Hutchinson High School and Hutchinson Community College.

She walked in two ceremonies and received two certificates upon graduation: her high school diploma and her associate’s degree in business administration.

She is only 18 years old.

Shannon took dual credit classes in high school, such as American government and chemistry. She took the college courses, and the high school accepted the credit hours earned as high school credit.

Except for math and English, she took as many dual credit courses as she could. She finished all general education requirements in high school.

“Sometimes it got stressful,” Shannon said, “especially when I had a whole bunch of tests on the same day.”

Because of her hectic schedule and class load, Shannon had to choose which classes to put off in order to study for another.

“Sometimes I would ignore the fact that I had homework,” she said. “There is only so much homework you can do before you go crazy.”

Her system worked: Study for a few hours, break and then go back to studying. What free time she had was spent with friends or preparing for debate.

Shannon spent class time and free time participating in debate and forensics. She will compete in her third and final National Forensics League national tournament in June in the student congress competition, where debaters research and write congressional legislation.

Debate is one hobby she will give up in college.

On average, Shannon took 15-18 college credit hours during high school. But she’s taking it slow during her first semester at WSU and is only taking 13.

“I figure this will give me a chance to get used to WSU,” she said.

Shannon knows she is at a disadvantage. She may finish school earlier than her classmates, but she hasn’t had the same life experiences as college students have had and will miss out on growing up in college.

“The further I get up, the clearer it is that I’m so much younger,” she said. “It’s hard to get used to.”

Shannon still has a long way to go in the W. Frank Barton School of Business.

After she earns her bachelor’s degree, she plans to get her master’s in business administration, and then apply to law school to study corporate law.

She said she wasn’t up for criminal law. She wants a balance between sitting at a desk and standing in a courtroom. Corporate law was her compromise.

Coming to WSU was a no-brainer for this dedicated teenager.

Shannon researched local universities. She checked the distance from home, price and where they were ranked nationally.

“(WSU) is ranked higher than any of the universities in the state,” she said, referring to the school as a whole.

WSU offered her a better education for half the price.

Shannon hopes to graduate with honors, but she’s not worried about her GPA. She said she doesn’t want to be too focused on her grades.

“I’m hoping to grasp the material and apply it to a real job,” she said.

At 18, Shannon has finished high school and community college.

“It seems crazy that it’s over,” she said.