Eighteen-year-old Derek Hodgdon grew up in Swanton in a typical Franklin County family. Hard work was expected, college wasn’t, and pretty much everyone assumed that he would go right to work in the metal recycling business that bore his last name. But while Swanton would always be home, Derek wasn’t convinced it was where he saw his future. In seventh grade, Derek – along with many of his fellow classmates at Missisquoi Valley Union Middle and High School – started attending college and career workshops presented by VSAC’s Talent Search Program, which aims to get more low- and middle-income students