When Georgia Horosky graduates from Owen J. Roberts High School later this year, she’ll do so with 63 college credits, an associate’s degree and statewide honors under her belt. Not bad for the 17-year-old high school Dual Enrollment student at Montgomery County Community College.

Horosky, of St. Peter’s, Chester County, was recently added to the 2024 All-Pennsylvania Academic Team for her work in and out of the classroom.

Sponsored by Phi Theta Kappa (PTK), the international honor society for two-year colleges, and The Pennsylvania Commission for Community Colleges, this recognition honors exceptional community college students who have achieved academic excellence and demonstrated a commitment to their colleges and communities. To qualify, students must have completed at least 36 credits and have a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher.

The Pennsylvania Commission for Community Colleges recognized Horosky, Psychology major Dani Arcos Narvaez and Computer Science major Mercy Ifiegbu with other award recipients during a state-wide event in Harrisburg April 2.

“It’s exciting,” said Horosky of the award. “Especially for how young I am.”

Horosky started at MCCC’s Pottstown Campus in the summer of 2021, because she said she was looking for more rigorous coursework. The Dual Enrollment program allowed her to save money and time while she prepared for the future.

Dual Enrollment allows high school students 15 years or older to get a head start on their college education while completing high school. Students can take courses at their high school, at MCCC, or online and credits earned can transfer to a four-year institution.

“I wasn’t being challenged,” she said. “I tried out Montco and loved how the courses were paced out and I stayed here.”

Since then, she’s taken an active role on campus. She’s the current president of the Beta Tau Lambda chapter of PTK at Pottstown Campus. She’s also joined the Rotaract Club in the spring of 2023 and later became the club’s president the following fall.

Communication Assistant Professor Meredith Frank, the Beta Tau Lambda faculty advisor, was one of the first faculty members to have Horosky in class at the College in a public speaking class when Horosky was 14 years old. She has her again in class in speech communication.  

“To me she’s absolutely amazing,” said Frank. “She’s so responsible at her age. One of the best things about her is she looks towards the future, not just for today. She’s thinking about what she needs to do down the line to reach her goals and what she can do to line herself up with that.”

Outside of the classroom, Horosky as PTK and Rotaract Club president, Frank said Horosky demonstrates a maturity well beyond her years.

“I never have to worry about her if she’ll show up. She’ll be first person there,” she said. “She’s the first to log on to the app and know what she’s supposed to be doing. She knows how to budget her time. She wakes up early in the morning and gets a lot done in the day. I will miss her dearly next year. I’ve been very lucky the past two years to work with her. I’ve been truly blessed.”

While she has no official major declared, Horosky said she’s interested in the agricultural business and plans to attend Wilmington College in Wilmington, Ohio in the fall to study it.

That passion for farming stems from raising livestock for the last nine years. When she was 8 years old, she began raising pigs on her family’s farm and developed a love for the animal.

“They have personality of a puppy,” she said. “It’s like having dogs.”

Through that experience, Horosky said she went on to raise and later judge show pigs and livestock competitions and through that learned more about the agricultural industry. Those experience inspired in her a desire to pursue the business as a career.

“I love being part of agriculture industry, it’s so necessary, the industry plays a vital role in feeding the world and I love playing a part and seeing how it works,” she said. “It’s an industry people aren’t informed about, and I want to get involved and inform others.”