For most, graduating means looking forward to a summer filled with flip-flops and sunblock before starting college. It means waiting for May and passing time by trying to get through four seasons of math tests, prom and finals. However, when the final bell rings and seniors shove through the halls for sweet freedom, there will have already been students out of school for an entire semester. To graduate early, students must initially approach their guidance counselor to look into the possibility of graduating earlier than their classmates.
What made you want to graduate early?
“I didn’t think that messing around my last semester of high school would have been beneficial to my education.”
Was it harder than you expected to graduate early?
“I think it’s more stressful than people realize. You have to do all this work to get these credits that you need to graduate, but it was worth it.”
What’s a pro and a con to graduating early?
“A pro to graduating early is that I get to leave high school and pursue a major while starting my life. A con, though, is that I have to leave all my high school friends.”
Why did you decide to graduate early?
“I had the option to, and I felt ready to move forward and dive into the next chapter of my life.”
How did you find out about graduating early?
“I approached my counselor about it and I took a few classes online and also a summer class, so I was able to graduate early.”
What does graduating early mean to you as a Southwest student?
“Graduating early represents all the hard work I have accomplished in order to start college in January. It’s much more to me than an ‘early out’ of high school; it is the start of my new life that I have working so hard to get to. Graduating early means new goals and a new start.”
What pushed you to decide to graduate early?
“I decided to graduate early because I wanted to get a jump start on my college education, and the majority of my friends graduated last year, so I found no reason to stick around.”
What does graduating mean to you as a Southwest student?
“Graduating from Southwest means a lot to me as a senior because I can say I was part of the school’s foundation in creating new traditions and getting up on their feet.”
Who was the most supportive of you in your quest to graduate early?
“My best friend, Anne Domniguez, was the only support I had because my parents wanted me to fulfill my whole high school experience. She helped me make the decisions for what I should do with my free time during second semester.”