LYNN — In May, just a few months after turning 19, Gretel Devendorf walked across the University of Vermont’s graduation stage to receive her bachelor’s degree in mathematical sciences.
A Lynn native, Devendorf started earning college credit at age 15. At the time, she was attending Georgetown Public Schools, as her mom lived in Lynn but her dad lived in Georgetown, Mass.
Devendorf said she put all of her effort into school.
Eventually she realized she wanted to start taking college classes, so she enrolled at Northern Essex Community College.
Then when COVID-19 started, her high school moved online.
“I realized that I had a lot more free time and so I started taking more and more of the classes at the community college,” Devendorf said.
By the end of her junior year of high school, she had nearly three years worth of college credits. At this point, she decided she wanted to graduate early and continue pursuing a degree.
“I convinced my school to let me graduate high school early and they’ve never done that before, which was really cool,” Devendorf said.
The next step was to apply to colleges to transfer to. She got into the University of Vermont and transferred all of her community-college credits.
At 17, Devendorf packed up her life and moved into the UVM dorms.
“When I was moving into the dorms it was what should have been my senior year of high school, but I was with the college freshmen even though standing-wise I was a junior,” she said.
Being in college at 17 and in classes with older students made her feel “behind” at times, she said, and there were certain things that were more difficult for her to deal with.
“Even though I like came into college as a 17-year-old, I feel like my brain almost socially was still at my 15-year-old self because everything went online and I wasn’t having any social structure in my life,” Devendorf said.
Despite those challenges, she ended up connecting with other students through academics and made friends who had similar interests.
Now, with her bachelor’s degree earned, she said she will be spending a year in Australia.
“I’m moving to Melbourne, Australia in August,” Devendorf said.
While there on a work visa, she said she wants to get a job in the technology field.
“That is my plan for the next year and then after that I’m planning on going to graduate school,” Devendorf said. “I don’t have my heart set on any school in particular, but I think I’m going to do something along with (artificial intelligence).”
It took persistence, she said, to pursue college classes while attending a high school that didn’t offer dual enrollment, as well as to convince the school to let her graduate early.
“Even if people say no, don’t take that as an answer,” Devendorf said. “If you have a really big goal, then keep your eyes on the goal.”
