An early graduation was barely on my radar when I was entering my junior year of college. I had gone through a shortened freshman year because of Covid, and I took my sophomore year of classes at home through community college. I felt like I barely had any college experience, and I had two more years to cram it in.
My best friend, and roommate, found out that because of high school transfer credits, she was an entire year ahead of schedule. I knew I had AP credits, and I also knew I was only one gen Ed course away from being completed with the requirements.
When it came to thinking about my own graduation potential, I figured, “I’ll just check.”
Checking turned into researching requirements, which led to discovering that my like my best friend, I would be completely done with all of my required coursework by the end of my junior year. In the moment, I became excited. I would be able to walk the graduation stage next to my best friend. I would be able to save money. I would have a family proud of the progress I made. I would have an extra year to be exploratory. It was fool proof. Until it wasn’t.
Now, I am in my second semester of my junior year. My paperwork is filled out, and my classes have been chosen and I have registered for the final summer courses I needed. This is my last chance at experiencing college, and there are only a few months remaining. I am unsure of the direction I will head after school is over, but I know I will be one degree more advanced. I am hoping to squeeze in a trip abroad- hopefully to teach in Africa- for the summer to fulfill the travel study goal. I realized that the unexpected deadline I put upon myself is stressful, yes, but it also is forcing me into participation in ways I wouldn’t have imagined. I have been taking every opportunity sent my way. I have been writing more intently than I ever had before. I am exploring clubs and involving myself in events I may have otherwise walked past. I am playing every sport I can physically manage- currently in the excitement of joining both a soccer team and ice hockey league. I am seeking discomfort to get the most out of the time I have left. I am appreciating my friends, even during the small trips to the dining hall in between classes. I’m making each moment a memory. Even the stress of assignments is something I’m learning to cherish because very soon I will not have it at my disposal, and I will be facing new endeavors.
Graduating early jumps around in my mind from being a terrifying and overall negative concept to an opportunity-filled positive experience. I do know that I will continue to follow the path I see best fit, and I will allow myself the space to invent, learn, and grow. I send hugs to all other 2022 graduates because I am living first-hand that graduating is not as easy as the movies make it seem; we should walk across the graduation stage come spring with pride and eagerness for what is to come without forgetting how much we will miss the home we created at college.