A nostalgic time of the year that many friends and faculty at Berlin High School dread is the day a group of seniors graduate early to start their careers and adult lives. Seniors who are graduating early are excited for the transition into adulthood and for their lives to begin.
“I just want to be done, to move on, and finally get ready to further things in my life,” senior Adeline Boomgard said.
Boomgard has been ready to graduate early since her junior year. Since she is graduating early, she will be getting ready to go to Fox Valley Tech in the fall.
“You can pretty much do whatever you want because you don’t have to come to school every day anymore. It’s a good time to work and get more money before college starts in the fall. When you get to this point as a senior, you really don’t have anything else to do in high school, and it’s a good way to just get it done,” Boomgard said.
Seniors who graduate early, like Boomgard, already have plans set up for this quick start to their lives.
“I’m moving to Fond du Lac to start college early. This gets me a head start on a lot of things with my future. Also, not having to be here another semester is a plus,” senior Addison Kresal said.
Kresal, unlike Boomgard, swayed between graduating early and staying for another semester.
“I first wanted to graduate early in my sophomore year of high school, and then I changed my mind. Then, this summer, I decided to graduate early again,” Kresal said.
With that being said, it isn’t uncommon for seniors to think of graduating early in their first years of high school.
“We’d like to start at least thinking about it at the end of junior year or earlier, but they have to have an answer by the first semester of their senior year. They need to tell us a definite answer at their senior meeting, then we can hand out the senior the early graduation form that we have completed,” guidance counselor Ann Ragus said.
Ragus then explained the process early graduating seniors go through to get out of their second semester.
“They meet with their counselor to see if they have enough credits, like their four credits of English, three credits of math, and so on. They then get a permission slip of sorts to take home and have a parent sign, with just the conditions to graduate early and the steps they have to take during this time. We also print out a transcript and attach it to the back if they are interested in early graduation,” Ragus said, “Mr. Bednarek is the final decision maker on whether or not that student can graduate. If he agrees to that, then it comes back to Ms. Judas, and Ms. Judas sends a letter home to the family, explaining that their son or daughter is going to graduate early.”
There are many steps in voiding a second semester for seniors, but these steps are essential for seniors in starting their lives early. Credits, for example, are the most important element for any high school student, especially for early graduates on track to graduate early.
“It wasn’t hard for me to graduate early. I was prepared to graduate so early on in my high school career that I had all the credits I needed. I did not take any study halls because I needed that time and extra credits to graduate early. Honestly, a big one is just pass your classes and get the credits,” Kresal said.
Graduating early may seem like an easy way to get out of school for many students; however, for students involved in extracurricular activities, it is something they have to consider precisely.
“Students who graduate early can’t participate in sports. They can still attend the dances if they want to, because they are still technically students here, but they just can’t participate in sports,” Ragus said.
Even without participating in sports, students do give up those extracurriculars so that they can pursue their lives.
“With students graduating early, a lot of times, students say they want to get done early so they can work full-time to save money to pay for school. Some students are just kind of done with high school, and so, for mental health reasons or whatever it is, it’s very beneficial that they maybe don’t attend school much longer,” Ragus said. “These students are ready to start their lives and get out of here.”
