In their final year of high school, seniors anxiously await their last day of school, ready and excited to complete their first huge milestone in life. However, that day of freedom is closer for some seniors than most others. As they grow closer to a life of independence, seniors recognize the wide range of experiences that life has to offer. Some choose to partake in these experiences sooner rather than later, prompting them to graduate early.

  For seniors that chose to graduate early, that means graduating four or five months earlier in December rather than late May, for a wide variety of reasons, including work demands, college opportunities, athletics offers, or simply for the time off.

 A feeling that all seniors can relate to is the desire for the chaos and stress of high school to end so they can move on with their life, often referred to jokingly as “senioritis.”

  One of this years early graduates, Danalyn Bradford, a senior, cites this feeling of “senioritis” as one of her main reasons to graduate early,

“Of course I enjoy coming to school to see my friends and whatnot, but mostly I am ready to leave school so I can focus more on what it really is that I want to get out of life. I just feel like I need some free time, time where I can do whatever I want whenever I want. I am super excited to have that free time and really explore who I am.”

  As a part of her understandable decision and quest for self-discovery, Bradford hopes that this will include “if [she] gets accepted, attending college at Brigham Young University and spending more time with [her] family.”

  Bradford also said regarding her decision to graduate early, that “I kinda always knew I was going to [graduate early] because my older sister and older brother did. So I just was doing what my family had always done. So it wasn’t really a hard decision.”

  Another senior choosing to graduate early is Cameron Wade, who expressed his extreme excitement about leaving early, saying that, “I’m older, I’m 18 already. I’m ready. I’m done with high school and ready to move on with life, make new memories… It’s a fun time out there. It’s great.”

  Wade revealed that the true purpose of his early graduation is his plan to attend Brigham Young University beginning in January 2019, a lifelong goal of his as part of following in his parents footsteps.

  As with any soon-to-be college freshmen, Wade admits to feeling slightly worried about the drastic change.

“I guess I am a little anxious just because getting ready to go to college like right after I bounce out of high school feels weird, so I haven’t really decided how I feel. I guess I’m great… I’m already accepted to BYU. I’m just ready for the next phase of my life. … It’s all exciting,” Wade said.

  Laura Brown also plans on graduating early this year. Like Wade, Brown hopes to begin her college experience earlier than usual.

  “I chose to graduate early because I wanted to take some classes at Sierra College before I transferred to a different college… I just wanted to get some credits done so that they wouldn’t be as difficult when hopefully I attend Brigham Young University,” Brown said.

  In addition to reach her goal of getting ahead of the game, Brown was also prompted by her older brother and sister who graduated early when they were students at Granite Bay High School.

  “It’s always been a kind of tradition in my family… so I’ve always wanted to graduate early ever since I was young, so it wasn’t a hard decision, it felt pretty natural,” Brown said.     

  Brown plans to stay in the area until the next summer, when she hopes she will depart to receive a higher education at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah.

  The consensus between Bradford and Wade is that although they are sad to miss out on some of the school activities, namely Quad dance and Senior Prom, they are not terribly upset because of their participation in those events in previous years. However, events like these can have a high level of importance and significance for some seniors, and the thought of missing out on them is disappointing.

  “That is one thing that like I’ve reconsidered staying for, the end of school events and everything,” said Brown.

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  As they slowly but surely inch closer to their first taste of “real life,” the early graduating seniors choose to savor their last moments in high school. Surrounded by friends and family and driven by their hopes and plans, these seniors are sure to succeed following their early graduation.