Mount Vernon’s Sabrina Cooklin had a tough choice this May – which of her two graduation ceremonies would she attend in person?
Sabrina, a graduate of Iowa Connections Academy, was able to complete her high school diploma as well as lock in enough college credits from Iowa Western Community College to graduate with an associate’s degree in business administration and an online certificate in social media this past May. Both graduation ceremonies fell on the same day.
She chose to go to her graduation ceremony with Iowa Connections Academy, where she was also selected to be one of two speakers for the class of 2022. She’ll attend a college graduation ceremony at Iowa Western Community College at a later date this summer.
“School has always been something that has come very easy for me, and I got the hang of many subjects very easily,” Sabrina said.
Sabrina began her accelerated coursework focused on her high school diploma and associate’s degrees in 2020, roughly during the pandemic.
Sabrina had already skipped two grades in middle school.
The biggest challenge for Sabrina was the time management required to take high school and college level courses at the same time.
“There’s only so many hours in each day, and I had to learn to prioritize what was important to me to tackle,” Sabrina said.
On top of being involved in high schools, Sabrina has been a member of marching band and the Venture Crew program (a spin-off of the Boy Scouts of America), and she has also held three part-time jobs. She is still running her Loominade Stand business. During the pandemic, when people were unable to get to professional nail clinics, she made press-on nails for delivery to customers. She’s also gotten very busy on Fiver writing articles on beauty and fashion.
This fall, Sabrina will be joining the Mahirishi University in Fairfield, taking courses from home, due to her age. Her plan is to graduate college at 18 with a degree in business administration with a specialization in creative entrepreneurship.
“I’ve always had an entrepreneur spirit,” Sabrina said. “I started my first business at 7, and it’s just something that has run in my blood.”
So much so her mother Sanja explained that she has run into a few snags trying to form a limited liability company or opening a business bank account before she turned 16.
“There weren’t a lot of people who were willing to help her structure an LLC, as she was still a minor,” Sanja said. “She was advised to get an attorney and file the proper paperwork, but she looked at the legal language and got the proper documentation and filed it with the secretary of state office.”
Sabrina has emailed the governor about the issues when it came to youth not being able to open bank accounts. While she may be an outlier, it’s something she views as a hurdle for students of the future.
Her mom is a co-signer on the business bank account at the moment, but Sabrina is the one who is running and making financial decisions for her different businesses.
Sanja said another challenge Sabrina has had has been having to take her classes at the kitchen table, since she shares a room with her younger brother, also a student at Iowa Connections Academy.
Her brother Adam has seen her as an inspiration and plans to graduate from high school by age 17.
Sabrina said earning her associate’s degree was allowed because students attending a high school program are able to take college level classes. She had course loads of up to 33 credits in a year.
“I know I couldn’t have been a student at Mount Vernon Schools and been able to have taken the course loads I was taking, as the time commitment in sitting in seven hours of high school classes would not have allowed me to do that,” Sabrina said.
Still, Sabrina encourages high school students to take advantage of college credit classes or offerings, as that will help them if they plan on going to college.
For her, having an associate’s degree and many credits transfer is going to give her the opportunity to graduate from college at 18, and pursue her dreams of entrepreneurship.
After the course loads she’s taken the past two school years, Sabrina plans to relax more this summer, spending time with family and friends, as well as getting prepared for the start of her university studies this fall.
Sanja Cooklin, Sabrina Cooklin, Adam Cooklin and Viktor Crnkovic at Sabrina’s graduation.