Many students cannot wait to graduate high school and step into their early adulthood. Some go as far as wanting to graduate a year early to pursue their post-graduate goals. In order to do this, a student must meet with their counselor and get them on board with the idea as long as the individual has a plan for their future. They also need to construct a schedule in order to get all of the credits that are necessary to graduate, this will likely result in a heavy course load.

Tina Le ’22 is a junior who jumped through these obstacles and is going to graduate a year early this year. However, graduating early has proved to be a very difficult task. “It’s definitely been very challenging in all of my classes trying to not fall behind and pass them,” Le said. Le has chosen this path for herself because “I have a passion for flying and thought it would be beneficial to get myself into the field as early as possible giving me a head start on doing what I love the most,” said Le. She is hoping to pursue her dreams of becoming a pilot and flying for American Airlines.

Many wonder how to achieve this accomplishment as not many students graduate a year early. In Le’s case, this was a plan she made last summer. “Definitely not something I thought of, kind of a last minute decision that worked out,” said Le. Le believes the key to graduating early is that you have to be passionate about your future. “I would say that there is truly no formula for graduating early; as long as you have a strong enough passion for continuing further education in life, you will figure out on your own how to balance everything out,” said Le.

When a student graduates early, they may miss out on some of the exciting parts of senior year. “I miss the experience of going to senior prom along with the last few months of senior year, getting to really live out my life before the next chapter of my life,” said Le. However, the decision can be worth it in order to pursue your passion. Graduating early has also taught Le “many time management skills and knowing how to prioritize things to best suit my life,” said Le. These benefits in addition to being able to achieve personal goals sooner can make graduating a year early worth it for whoever is willing to take on the challenge.