As of February 3, 2017, I will be in Palmerton North, New Zealand, high-school diploma already in hand, although I’m currently a senior. How is this possible? I’m graduating early.
IHS allows students to graduate once they have amassed the required 22 credits to graduate. New York State is one of 24 states that allows students to graduate early. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, roughly five percent of all students across the U.S. graduated early as of 2004.
So why graduate early? First and foremost, you can start college or work sooner. This option saves time, energy, and potentially money. Why wait anxiously through four years of high school? Moreover, getting a head start on college means graduating college earlier as well as entering the workforce sooner.
If starting college early isn’t of interest, taking a gap year after graduating is a great option. Many high schoolers don’t know what to study in college, and gap years provide the opportunity for new experiences—such as traveling, interning, and working—that can help them discover their interests before going to college. Gap years also provide students with “real” world experiences that foster greater independence. A student who graduates early can take a gap year and still start college at the same time as their high-school peers; however, they will have had valuable experiences that their peers couldn’t have if they stayed in high school for all four years.
Personally, I’m graduating a semester early in order to join my family on sabbatical in New Zealand. There, I will immerse myself in a new culture, explore new educational opportunities, and travel to new places. Hopefully by the end of my time in New Zealand, I will return to the U.S. ready for college with a host of new insights and experiences. While IHS has provided me with a stellar education, I believe certain things can only be learned outside of the classroom.
Nevertheless, it is important to remember that graduating early isn’t a walk in the park. Satisfying all of the graduation requirements in a shorter time frame requires tremendous commitment and meticulous planning. Because of this commitment, anyone who decides to graduate early should have a legitimate purpose for doing so. You don’t want to end high school early without knowing what you are going to do next.
With hard work and dedication, however, graduating early is possible and can be tremendously rewarding. Being able to walk across the stage a semester or even a year ahead of schedule with exciting opportunities to come is definitely something worth celebrating.