Cecilia Heater of Petaluma High School

By CECILIA HEATER
PETALUMA HIGH SCHOOL, JUNIOR, 16

Young adults graduating early in high school means giving up activities students usually experience during their senior year, but it also means gaining opportunities that students usually do not obtain when they are in school all day.
It is a difficult decision: Getting out of high school as soon as possible or taking one’s time and experiencing memorable moments, such as prom, or even graduation and being able to look down the row at one of the people you have known for one year or even 10.
Graduating early can be more beneficial in the long run. It allows a young adult to prosper by starting college early, getting a job or even working more hours to save money for things, such as moving out or college.
Graduating early also shows many adults, including parents, that even if the young adult is younger than 18, he or she is responsible and self-sufficient enough to deserve more freedom until turning the big one-eight.
Early graduation can give teens the possibility to travel for a few months or start college right away, which means starting a career that in the future will give one time to travel and to experience the small things in life.
Graduating early is a great decision, often saves money on college tuition and is a way to challenge students with a larger course load than they usually would have in a non-accelerated high school classroom. It also helps a student learn time management skills in handling the extra homework.
Some parents have concerns about their children wanting to graduate early, fearing their kids will miss out on social and academic activities that can shape them into being better in life. These activities include philanthropic activities, working to support themselves and learning to take on more homework and having to do it on a tighter time limit. One thing parents should consider, though, is that if a student graduates early and goes to college, it opens up new opportunities in college, such as meeting a wider variety of people and participating in new and different social situations.
In my opinion, graduating early gives a wider variety of opportunities for students to prosper not only in social situations, but also educationally and independently.