Wharton County Junior College dual credit student Landynn Tompkins will graduate from high school this month with a diploma under the Texas First Program. The state program enables high school students to graduate early and to qualify for a one-year scholarship to their university of choice.
WHARTON, TEXAS – Like dozens of other high schoolers across the state, Landynn Tompkins will obtain her high school diploma this week. Unlike her classmates, however, the Newgulf native will do so at the tender age of 16 — and with nearly two dozen college credit hours under her belt.
Through the Texas First Program, Tompkins will not only graduate a year early from Boling High School, but she will also qualify for a one-year, all-expenses-paid scholarship to her university of choice — Texas A&M. Thanks to Wharton County Junior College’s dual credit program, Tompkins will enter A&M with 23 college credit hours.
“All of my teachers at WCJC have been really, really good and very helpful,” Tompkins said.
WCJC’s Director of Admissions and Registration Emily Voulgaris said Tompkins is the first student enrolled at WCJC that she is aware of to graduate with a Texas First Diploma. The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) website states that students who graduate early through the Texas First Program are “considered to have earned a diploma with a distinguished level of achievement” and that this designation must be stated on the graduate’s high school diploma.
“This is a very prestigious diploma,” Voulgaris said.
The Texas First Program “is designed to keep Texas’ best and brightest on a direct track to postsecondary education here in our great state,” the THECB website notes.
Tompkins said she had always wanted to graduate early.
“I knew that if I graduated early, I could get out and start on my career without wasting time my senior year,” she said.
Her parents, Greg and C.C. Tompkins, have several businesses, and Tompkins is most interested in the real estate side of things. At Texas A&M, she will major in agricultural economics, with a concentration in finance and real estate.
Tompkins attended Faith Christian Academy as a youngster, then Newgulf Elementary and Iago Junior High before heading on to Boling High School. She qualified for the Texas First Program by having a GPA that placed her in the top 10 percent of her graduating class. She took summer courses to ensure she had enough credits to graduate early.
She simultaneously took online courses at WCJC, earning college credit in English, history, government, economics and math. On top of all of that, she regularly worked between 20 and 30 hours a week as a nanny.
Tompkins’ parents could not be prouder of their daughter’s accomplishments, and they are pleased that the Texas First Program has enabled her to pursue her academic goals at her own pace.
“We are really excited about the Texas First Program and how it aligned with Landynn’s goals of graduating early. I think this program is very beneficial to students with the same drive and determination Landynn has and I hope more students will consider this program,” said C.C. Tompkins. “Greg and I will be sad to see her going off to A&M in the fall, but are so excited to see where her future takes her. Thank you to WCJC for all their help this year in making this happen.”
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