Ashley Scrivner, a sophomore at Northwest Rankin High School in Flowood, Mississippi, plans to graduate high school a year early. She wants to group her junior year and senior year together into one. In order to accomplish this goal, she has several options that she can choose from.

According to U.S. News and World Report, students can earn college credit in several ways. They can enroll “in AP or International Baccalaureate courses and take a related exam in the spring”. They can even do “dual enrollment at a local college to earn both postsecondary and high school credit”. Scrivner plans to do the second option. During her junior year, she will also be taking five separate college classes at Hinds Community College alongside her regular classes. This can help her receive all the credits that she’ll need in order to graduate.

Most sources describe the technical side of early graduation, offering the pros and cons, listing ways to earn extra credit, and providing a list of steps to follow to help the student along. They use objective language, referring to the reader as if it could be anybody.

On College Raptor, Scrivner can find a list of the pros and cons of graduating early, like getting a head start on college or work, receiving the academic challenge that she could never get in high school, missing out on a year of school activities, and being forced to handle a mental and emotional maturity that you might not yet have.

On a Prep Scholar blog, she is provided steps on how to graduate early, informed of what it would mean to graduate early, told of the drawbacks that can come with it, and given advice on whether she should graduate early or not, find out for herself if it is worth the trouble and if she can handle it. It even objectively tells her the reasons why she would want to graduate early.

These sources do not dig down deeper into the personal heart of it. Every early graduate has their own story and reasons for choosing to graduate early, and Scrivner is no exception. She wants to graduate early so she won’t spend too long apart to her boyfriend, Caleb Reeves, a senior from Northwest Rankin High School. “After high school, I plan to go to college to become a teacher, preferably for elementary students,” she answered to a question about the next course of her life after she finally graduates high school.

Parents have their own concerns and opinions on the matter. For example, Matthew Scrivner the father of Ashley Scrivner and a soldier in the Army Reserves, worries about whether his daughter is ready for the responsibility that will come with going to college. “I am worried that she is rushing into these responsibilities before she is actually ready for them,” he said in response to a question on whether he thinks his daughter is choosing to graduate high school early for all of the right reasons.

This is a common worry that all parents face. It would benefit them and their children to look into the stories of those who have gone through this same step, students who made the decision to graduate early and parents who have adapted to the circumstances surrounding it. Hearing personally from those who are already familiar with the process will help ease their worries and strengthen their resolve that this would be the right decision for them.

If you are planning to graduate early or have a child who is planning to graduate early, you are not alone. If you have any concerns or have your own personal experience with early graduation that you are willing to share, please leave a comment. We would love to hear from you.

Related sites and blogs that may interest you:

• https://thecollegeinvestor.com/20266/graduate-college-three-years/
• https://www.money-mentor.com/blog/2018/1/17/how-i-graduated-early-–
• http://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/confessions-community-college-dean/after-dual-enrollment
• https://www.hercampus.com/lifestyle/should-you-graduate-semester-early
• https://blog.empowerly.com/graduating-high-school-early