High school can be difficult all by itself. For some high school students in Running Start going to high school and college is an everyday norm. Some students have come forward to express their concern about their treatment from Pierce’s professors or their high school teachers.

Running Start student enrollment at the Ft. Steilacoom campus is at 343, while the numbers at the Puyallup campus nearly triples that at 1026. To put that into perspective, in fall 2013, the entire enrollment at Ft. Steilacoom was 3836 students. Running Start students at Ft. Steilacoom accounts for roughly 9% of the students seen around campus. In a class size of 25, students are most likely to interact with a Running Start student at some point.

Gabriella Fast, a Lakes High School student, who alternates her days between college and high school, stays quiet when it comes to talking about Running Start.

“It seems a lot of people look down upon us, because we are high school students. I feel like they see us as having the high school act; being disrespectful, loud, rowdy, or can’t handle college” Fast said.

The social environment is different from what students are used to at high school. At Pierce you have people from many walks of life; fresh out of high school, adults starting college for the first time, adults starting college again, military, and international students. Teachers have to find a balance to keep everything fair without making it too easy or too difficult for the student. The Running Start students could possibly see the difference in teaching styles of the two schools.

“I really like Running Start. The teachers have been really good to me. I find that I learn a lot more in college than high school” Riley Scott, River Ridge High School, said.

The situation is completely different when it comes to Scott’s high school teachers. “They were telling me that I should stay at high school and that community college was not good. The teachers also told me that that I would not make it and fail my classes, yet my current GPA is a 3.6. There is two AP teachers in particular that have been giving me this grief.” Scott said.

Teachers should encourage their students to gain as much knowledge as possible. “If a Running Start student runs into any of these situations where they feel outcast, they can come talk to me and we can solve the issue” said Sarah Hoaglin, the Pierce College Running Start Advisor. “If it is something that needs to be routed up, we can get it to the proper person to get the problem solved.”