Bob Asmussen: Danville teen knocks out two graduations in same month: 'Rowan's always been driven'
May 16—DANVILLE — From a very young age, Rowan Clawson charted her own course, with the help and support of her family.
Clawson's path ends with two graduations this month. Home-schooled since the first grade, Rowan, 17, earned her high school diploma from Odyssey Academy while also completing her associate degree in electrical technology at Danville Area Community College.
The DACC ceremony is Friday.
Despite a busy schedule, Clawson excelled at the junior college, compiling a perfect GPA to earn summa cum laude distinction.
Her mom, Tara, wasn't surprised.
"She's always been a really hard worker, and if she didn't grasp something, she was more than willing to work on it longer," Tara said. "Things have come easier to her than I think they would with other children. Education-wise, things have come to her pretty well."
Why did Rowan decide to seek her degrees at the same time? The idea goes back years.
Tara sought information from DACC about how it would work when her older daughter considered it.
"By the time they were in junior high, we knew that would be a goal," Tara said. "Not necessarily was it a goal to graduate high school and already have your (associate degree).
"Rowan's always been driven."
She found a way to handle the double duty.
"It was a little challenging at times," Rowan said. "But it also was pretty easy because I was focusing on one at a time instead of stressing about doing both."
"She's been exceptionally busy for the last couple years," her mother said. "It's been a lot of work for her. It's paid off."
Rowan's DACC classwork was split between in person and online. For her electrical classes, which include labs, the work was in person.
"I have enjoyed my classes," Rowan said. "They're very hands on."
She has long been interested in how things work.
"I always played more with Hot Wheels and Legos, things like that other than dolls," Rowan said. "We used to have these kits when I was little and they were electric circuits. It would have a battery in it and you would either make connections to make a light light up or a speaker go off."
She never got shocked until the most recent semester.
"It wasn't bad because I wasn't touching it with both hands," Rowan said. "I was flipping some switches on a board that I was using for computer programming and I touched the back of it."
Bzzz. Not in a good way.
Her primary teacher, Ben Jun, kept a close eye on what the students were doing and made sure they understood the potential dangers.
Life lessons
As her daughters' main home-school teacher, Tara emphasized learning beyond the books.
"I guess you would call it enrichment activities we were able to do, whether it be field trips or traveling to national parks," Tara said. "Things that didn't really fit into a standard school year.
"With home schooling, we were able to work ahead. We could work on weekends and work on evenings. We could work a week in the summer and take a week off in the fall without it affecting anybody else. That's pretty much why we decided to go that route."
Rowan's older sister, Elliotte, was also home-schooled. Her younger sister, Sawyer, is a first-grader.
Rowan appreciates her home-school experience.
"We had some online classes, some standard textbooks and some workbooks," Rowan said. "And I also did tele-lessons in Urbana for a little bit."
When she isn't teaching her kids, Tara works part time as a bookkeeper for a local company and does taxes during tax season. Rowan's dad, Eric, does construction and excavation work.
Tara grew up in nearby Veedersburg, Ind. Eric is from Georgetown.
As for extracurriculars, Rowan played the cello during her school years at the Community Center for the Arts in Urbana. She had group classes and was in string bands.
Future starts now
Rowan won't be moving on to a four-year college in the fall. Instead, she will focus on becoming a union electrician.
"Four-year college was just never a goal for her," Tara said.
"I don't really think that that's for me," Rowan added.
Rowan is active with her Jehovah's Witnesses congregation in Danville.
"She wanted a career that would help her be useful in that capacity," Tara said. "Doing some kind of construction or skilled trade seemed the best way for her to be an asset. But also something that would give her a good income and be flexible."
Rowan plans to help with building maintenance and assist with disaster relief.
