Jonathan Sahlin laughs during band practice at Courtland High School earlier this month. Sahlin will graduate from Courtland next month, but he'll earn an associate degree from Germanna Community College today. Visit the Photo Place

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Germanna: Jonathan Sahlin J

Double graduate will wear the cap and gown at Germanna this weekend, and Courtland in June

By RUTH FINCH

Date published: 5/13/2006

ONATHAN SAHLIN is graduating from Germanna Community College this weekend, a month before he gets his diploma from Courtland High School and five weeks before he reaches legal voting age.

But don't get the wrong idea.

"I'm not brainy," he said.

His grades at both Germanna and Courtland are solid Bs. His only extracurricular activity is playing trumpet in the marching band. His high school transcript won't show him enrolled in the most prestigious classes because he opted for the standard high school diploma instead of the more challenging advanced diploma many of his college-bound classmates earned.

And he initially enrolled at Germanna at the urging of his mother, who feared he had nothing productive planned for the summer after his sophomore year.

That summer, he took a world history class, and he got a C.

Nevertheless, he was hooked on college before he was able to drive a car unchaperoned.

"I was the youngest one in that class by far," he said. "But it was like I was their age. During a class debate, I would say something and they would debate right back."

Maggie Van Zandt, Jonathan's guidance counselor at Germanna, said she wasn't surprised that he fit right in with the college crowd.

"He was what I would consider a mature student," she said. "He was always very motivated and well prepared. He had thought a lot about what he wanted to do and where he wanted to go to school and what courses he wanted to take."

Getting approval to do that required special permission from the superintendent of schools in Spotsylvania, something that made no sense to Jonathan.

"You can break a window and get thrown out of school if a teacher recommends it," he said. "But the superintendent has to allow me out to take more classes?"

Luckily, Jonathan had his Courtland guidance counselor, Mary Nelson, on his side.

"Our school system's goal is to meet individual needs, but public education is set up to deal with masses of students," she said. "When people such as Jonathan want to do something that the system doesn't provide for, that's why the counselor is there, to advocate for the individual."

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Date published: 5/13/2006