Madeline Remmen wasn’t like most of the other South Whidbey graduates to receive their diplomas June 11. Remmen also earned an associate of arts and sciences degree from Everett Community College, where she was enrolled in the college’s Ocean Research College Academy (ORCA) the past two years.

A Running Start program, the program places students in a collaborative environment and leads them out into the field to conduct research.

Remmen said that once a month, students would go on boat trips for longitudinal studies called the “State of Possession Sound.” From a National Science Foundation funded research vessel, the Phocoena, Remmen observed seabirds, marine mammals and collected data on fecal coliform, plankton and heavy metals found in sediments.

As a finale to the year, students would conduct independent research projects on either social sciences or the data they collected in the field. Remmen chose to study fellow ORCA students and their sugar intake on a daily basis. She compared that data to the general population and American Heart Association’s recommendation for sugar intake. Remmen found that ORCA students consumed more than the association’s recommendation, but were not above the general population.

Remmen said she got into the program with hopes of majoring in marine biology, but eventually shifted to political science due to a newfound interest in law. She’ll enroll at Western Washington University next fall with over 90 college credits and will major in environmental policy.

“It was an amazing experience,” Remmen said. “It might have been scary at times and I had to work extremely, extremely hard but I am so proud of myself and my peers who were able to go through it. I would just recommend it to anybody who wants college experience in high school.”