Anastasia Gnyp of Hendersonville, Tennessee, graduated from Merrol Hyde Magnet School a semester early in 2009 with big dreams. She had received a Hope Scholarship, which would help pay in-state tuition to the institution of her choice, and was planning on attending the University of Tennessee Chattanooga to major in environmental agriculture.
Gnyp said at the time she dreamed of becoming a “political environmentalist.” But then her family hit a rough patch due to her parents’ divorce, and to save money on tuition, she decided to delay entry to UT and first take some pre-req classes at Volunteer State Community College, about 20 minutes from where she was living at home.
