The typical high school life consists of four years. Carrying that uneasiness freshman year, feeling overwhelmed by the first AP classes sophomore year, gearing up for college junior year and being released from all that tension senior year. However, some students do not wait for the last bell to dismiss them. Students like Samantha Herman (12) and Summer Brandt (11) are graduating ahead of the curve, already equipped for their next endeavors.
“It almost doesn’t really feel real even though we’re so close to graduation, but nonetheless I’m really excited about closing this chapter of my life and being able to start fresh in a new phase of life,” Brandt said.
Brandt will graduate with the class of 2025, a year ahead of her peers.
“I’ve never really enjoyed school, and the structure of it and felt sort of unmotivated because I’m not really interested in the subjects we’re required to take in high school,” Brandt said. “My grades started to suffer because I was so unmotivated and so I decided that I wanted to graduate early.”
Graduating early is challenging in its own ways, whether that be collecting necessary credits outside of school or managing social life with busy academic pursuance. Brandt took classes every summer since freshman year to meet the graduation requirements.
“Last summer I was working 30 hours a week, taking two online classes and also trying to hang out with my friends,” Brandt said. “That was probably the most busy I’ve ever been in my whole life.”
Likewise, Herman took math and painting classes outside of school and completed senior-specific classes, such as government and economics all in one semester at the school.
“It was a little challenging just getting through my math class because I’d have homework, and then I’d have to do my homework for [the extra] class,” Herman said. “But what I tried to do was I planned my schedule at the end of junior year so I did most of the math class over the summer, just because I knew that I was gonna have a harder time doing it during the school year.”
Brandt fulfilled her science credits by the end of sophomore year, later completing Math 3 and English 11 that summer.
“This year I’m taking the normal junior classes along with government, economics and AP Literature to complete my graduation requirements,” Brandt said. “This year’s classes are like junior and senior year combined to be able to have all the credits.”
To consider early graduation, students must consult with their counselors first.
“[The process goes] pretty smoothly if the planning is done in advance, so those conversations should start to occur with their counselor as soon as they know that [early graduation is] a goal,” Velasco said. “We want to understand what the goal is first. That’s step one, because perhaps they think they need to [graduate early] in order to seize that opportunity and take advantage of it, but maybe they’re still just processing it and need someone to flesh out those options with … everything depends.”
The appeal goes through layers of approvals and discussions, starting with counselors, through parents and the administration and eventually the registrar.
“We’re never looking to find a reason not to let them graduate early,” School Counselor Julianne Velasco said. “I guess we want to support the students through their goals and their wants. So it might be a further conversation to make sure the student is well-informed to make a well-informed decision … it’s really to more or less support the student with this decision, but if they meet all the requirements, that is their choice; they can graduate early.”
Velasco has experience with students intending to graduate early for a “variety of reasons,” such as missionary leadership opportunities or academic purposes.
“Some students will think, ‘Well, I want to get a jump start on community college classes,” but they don’t realize that if their schedule permits, they can do a free period [at the school] and for free, attend community college and take a class there that could be transferable,” Velasco said. “They could have both. So, the moral of the story is really the importance of working directly with their counselor to understand what their wants are, and what their goals could be with options.”
Like Brandt, Herman was not too fond of school either, ultimately prompting her to graduate last December, after the first semester of senior year.
“I like the academics of school, but since sophomore year I’ve [only] taken five classes so I’ve never been super involved in the school … I just wasn’t super excited going into the school year,” Herman said. “[I was like] ‘If I have enough credits, why wouldn’t I do something I’m really passionate and excited about?’”
While Herman is “happy now” with her decision, she reflects on the experience as “bittersweet.”
“It was really exciting because I have a lot more free time to train for volleyball,” Herman said. “I’m able to get a lot more higher competition because I’m able to train with the professionals in the area. But it’s also a little sad. It’s [my] second semester senior year, [and] I’m missing out on some of the fun stuff that’s going on, but it’s exciting.”
Herman plans to attend the University of Southern California this fall, where she will continue to play volleyball at the Division I level. While she was verbally committed to USC by the time she started preparing for early graduation, it was a tough decision to make nonetheless.
“I really debated it for a long time,” Herman said. “I went back and forth. I kind of had two schedules built, one for if I was graduating early and one if I wasn’t. What kind of helped was my beach partner who I play with … also [graduating] a semester early, so it was nice because I had someone else I’m able to play with during the day because what I was most worried about was the social aspect … But honestly now that I don’t have practices and stuff after school, I get to see my friends more.”
Herman received various reactions from her family and friends when she announced her plans to graduate early.
“I think my parents kind of went both ways,” Herman said. “I think my dad’s really into volleyball so he was excited for me. My mom was a little concerned just about going to college, taking a semester off, like the academics, [and] how it’s gonna look for USC, and then some of my friends were kind of mad at me … I kind of got mixed reactions where people were like ‘Why are you doing this?’’’
Early graduation is not a very common practice. On average, each school counselor sees “anywhere between one to two early graduates [per school year],” according to Velasco.
“I’ve noticed a trend where [the number of early graduates] has decreased, I want to say, because especially after COVID, students want to be around their classmates for their final year in high school,” Velasco said. “So it’s specific to, we have noticed, opportunity, or the student feels they have crossed everything off their list for high school and they’re ready to work or they need to support their family.”
Finishing high school early means putting in the same amount of effort in less time. Though it was challenging, both Brandt and Herman find their decisions worthwhile.
“I think the most important thing to remember when trying to balance classes with school and social life is just being a hard worker,” Brandt said. “I knew that I wanted to still hangout with my friends and have a good summer so sometimes I wouldn’t start working on my classes till late at night, but I always finished the work on time because I had a goal and I was committed to completing it.”
Brandt plans to attend Brigham Young University and major in Media Studies, aspiring to enter the film industry.
“I am most excited about being able to study things that I am passionate about in college and have the freedom to create my own life without the stress and pressure of being at home,” Brandt said.
Both Herman and Brandt said they “would recommend” others to do the same and graduate early. Perhaps high school does not always have to trail the same four-year pathway, but be utilized as a time to redefine goals and find the most effective way to reach them.
“I think for a lot of people the traditional route of high school isn’t the most optimal way of learning and while it works for some it may not work for others,” Brandt said. “This isn’t really talked about and we’re just kind of expected to adapt to this structure when there are other less talked about options that could be really beneficial for some students.”
