As college classes around the country start for the new semester, Facebook newsfeeds everywhere are clogged with early JHS graduates posting things like, “Graduating early was the best decision I ever made!” and statuses of the like. Meanwhile, the other 200 or so seniors that are still within the confines of JHS are either wishing that they had been able to graduate early like some of their classmates or thinking that graduating early from high school is a crazy decision.
To graduate early, a student must meet all of the graduation requirements by the end of the first semester in his or her senior year, including completing four years of English in three-and-a-half years. The English requirement is easily met by completing a semester of COM, a course focused on writing.
As a student who met all of the graduation requirements at the end of last semester, I was in a position where I could have graduated early if I wanted to. However, I have come to the realization that choosing not to graduate early is one of the best decisions I have ever made. Every senior in the halls of JHS is now counting down the days until graduation on May 24, but some seniors are looking at the prospect of graduation differently than others.
Some seniors, like Hannah Harder, are saddened at the thought of graduation. “It’s such a big change,” said Harder. “The thought of leaving my friends, people I’ve known since preschool, is a sad thought.”
Others, like senior Thomas Estabrook, are looking forward to the thought of graduation. “I’m excited to experience the world beyond JHS.”
I’m more or less between these two opinions. On one hand, the thought of graduating early is a prospect that terrifies me because it means I finally have to grow up and start acting like the adult that I will be when August rolls around. Like Harder pointed out, graduation also can mean the end of friendships that have survived for over a decade. Leaving friends behind that I’ve known forever and also realizing that I might not see some of the people that I see on a daily basis until one of our reunions rolls around is sad.
However, like Estabrook noted, graduation is not only an end, it is also a beginning. Even though each and every one of the graduating seniors will leave behind friends when they go off to college, everyone will make new friends in college. More times than not, it seems like it’s the friends people make in college that last for a lifetime, not the friends people make in high school.
No, I won’t miss walking down the crowded hallways each and every day. I won’t miss the sound the bell makes when it rings. I definitely won’t miss the bathrooms.
I will miss the people, though. I’ll miss spending time with my friends in the morning. I’ll miss Mr. Herring’s pig analogies and headstands. I’ll miss Miss Arnold’s asymptotes and hatred of Sombrero Man. I’ll miss share-fest Friday in Mr. Chipman’s class.
In my mind, the positives about high school outweigh the negatives. The prospect of graduation already makes me sad, so I wasn’t about to consider speeding up the process by graduating early. I want to savor my high school years, not wish them away.
That’s not to say that the early grads are wishing their high school years away. The majority of them chose to graduate early because they either wanted to get a head start on their college courses or they wanted to work for a semester and start saving up for college, which is something everyone who is entering college in the fall can understand. Money is about to become a huge factor for all of us, so it would be hard to fault anyone for trying to save money while it is possible.
At the same time, though, those of us who are graduating in May will have the entirety of the summer to work if we so choose. Also, it is possible to earn college credit in high school classes. Currently there are two dual credit classes offered at JHS, Calculus A and Bio II A, not to mention possible college credits earned from taking AP tests.
To me, even though graduating early is the right decision for some people, it is not the right thing to do if you have the choice. Granted, I believe the choice should be offered for those who wish to go that route, but I wouldn’t advocate it to anyone. Your high school years are something that you cannot get back. High school has less responsibility and more free time. Who would want to trade that away?