“I don’t even know what free time is.”
Still, Lorie Carpenter was driven to obtain a 4.0 GPA by parental encouragement, as well as a need for scholarship money.
“I think I did it for myself, to prove something to myself,” she said.
“It’s what I wanted to do, so I just did it.”
Her encouraging parents, by the way, are Steve and Deanna Carpenter. Lorie has a brother, Thomas.
Carpenter is headed to K-State University in the fall with a plan to major in kinesiology so as to become a physical therapist.
Scholarships will cover $10,000 of her anuual expenses, including $5,000 for housing and $5,000 for tuition.
Carpenter said she was most looking forward to taking classes in fields that draw her interest.
“I enjoy school,” Carpenter said, “but I don’t enjoy [the subject matter] of my classes. … I like the idea of being able to actually enjoy what I’m learning.”
When not in class, Carpenter works at Orscheln Farm & Home, and participates in a number of activities, including: National Honors Society (president), Future Farmers of America (vice president), Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Future Business Leaders of America and St. John’s Catholic Church. She’s also secretary for the entire IHS student body.
Carpenter said she thought college statistics was her hardest class, which she referred to as “not real math.”
“I know for me right now I’m trying to hold onto that 4.0 by passing stats,” she added.
Regardless of final grades, though, thanks to dual credit courses, Carpenter will graduate from high school with almost an Associate’s Degree.
So as she explained, “we’ve all taken so many college classes, not only do we have a 4.0 high school GPA, we also have a 4.0 college GPA.”
As for finishing up at IHS, she remarked that “it’s just kind of sad that we’re leaving,” but added that she’s nonetheless ready to move forward.
“I don’t think I would have done anything differently,” Carpenter said. “I think it was a good chapter of my life that is closing.”
