The Truth Behind Graduating Early

4 / 3 / 16 - Sunday, 11:15am.

Since I made the decision to graduate early, I have kept receiving one question that I have chosen to answer today. "Why did you graduate early?"...This blog post will consist of all the reasons I decided to graduate early and expand on each reason in particular. It's been about 3 months since I made my decision, and I could not be any more happy with it. Life after high school is exciting and new, and I'm just getting started.

Background On Me: I was originally supposed to graduate high school in May of 2016, but instead I choose to graduate at semester (December of 2015). I made this choice for several different reasons, which I have listed down below. I have always been good in school, ending high school with an unweighted GPA of 4.0. While this is true, I also was involved in several clubs at my school. I participated in Student Council, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Interact Club, and was a member of the National Honor Society. Outside of school, I continued to work towards my career by building up a social media presence online. Everyday I would be extremely busy to the point that it became overwhelming at times, but I still enjoyed it. I loved being able to see my friends everyday and interact with people, which is probably what I miss most about high school. So that is just a little background on me and my education. Let's move on to why I decided to graduate high school early.

TEN REASONS WHY I DECIDED TO GRADUATE EARLY:

1. I Was Ready For A Change - Yes, I did enjoy high school. No, I did not enjoy all the stress and drama that came with going to high school. In my school, drama was constantly occurring. Although I was not involved most of the time, it was still affecting me. I hated seeing how groups of friends were being classified by making names for each group. This eventually led to people getting their feelings hurt because groups would not allow them to become part of their friend group. Although this did not affect me personally, I still hated seeing this pettiness occur around me. With that being said, I was ready to switch it up. I wanted to get away from the small world that high school offered me and start a different life. This was my number one reason for graduating high school early.

2. Moving Forwards With My Career - One of the major reasons I decided to graduate early is so that I could move on with continuing my career. When I graduated, I was not aware of the direction I wanted to take my career in yet. I questioned myself several times about what the future would hold, so I decided that it was time to find out. With the extra time that I would have during the next semester, I planned on trying new things that would hopefully lead me in a direction that I would go with my career. After discovering myself and the passions I had, I now know that I am going to continue growing a career musically and on social media. No matter where this career might take me, I know I will be doing something that I love and that makes me happy. I would have never had the time in high school to figure this out, so it was only right that I allowed myself the time that I needed in order to truly discover myself and what I want to do in the future.

3. Time To Focus On Myself - High school was a period in my life that was always "go go go"... I knew that I needed some time to slow down and start focusing on bettering myself. Since graduating at semester, I have started dieting and exercising on a daily basis. This change has allowed me to lose 30 pounds so far in my journey! I am incredibly proud of what I have been able to accomplish so far, and it is only just the beginning. I needed to take this semester to make a change, and that's exactly what I am doing. I have completely switched up my life style, which feels amazing. It was not about losing the weight or getting down to a certain weight, it truly was just to change the way I felt. I am so much more happy with the person I am now, which is incredible. I never would have been able to make this change if I didn't graduate early, so this is another major reason why I choose to do so.

4. Starting College - Graduating high school early not only gave me the opportunity to move forward in my career, but also with my education. I have started taking online college courses that are allowing me to keep learning and interacting with education until I become a full-time college student in the fall. I look at this as a practice round of college while I wait for the real thing to come. If I were still in high school, there would be no way that I could have balanced both high school and college classes at the same time. Even though with all the things I'm picking up this semester, I still feel so much more free than I did in high school. College classes can be difficult, but I am slowly learning how to handle them, which is great considering I'll be going to college full-time in the fall. Before making the decision, I knew I could never quit school completely. I would have to do something that continued my education. Now I am doing just that and I am loving it. Full-time college, here I come!

5. Taking An Internship - Many of you probably already know this, but if you didn't, I started a competitive internship at a corporate radio station at the beginning of 2016. I never thought in a million years that I would get the opportunity to work at one of my favorite stations, but the company apparently liked me enough to have me come intern for them. I have met so many new people and have so many new things that I will be forever grateful for. Even though I don't necessarily want to work in the radio industry, I have still learned so much about myself and the capabilities that I have. I would have never been able to take up this full-time internship if I had not graduated early. Although at the time I did not know I would have this job, I knew that I wanted to apply for several different positions and internships in order to gain some experience over the semester. This internship has truly been one of the coolest things I have ever done and I am so happy that I made the decision to graduate early so I could take it up.

6. Being Able To Travel - If you know anything about me, it's most likely that I love to travel. I would go anywhere in the world and see anything just to gain that experience. I truly do love to travel with all my heart, but unfortunately the one thing that travel does require is time. When I was in high school, I only had two days off a week. That left me with absolutely no time at all to go out of town. Even on breaks, I would still be pilled up with homework so that I couldn't do much traveling. One of the major reasons that I decided to graduate early was so I would in fact have to opportunity to travel more. Even taking a quick trip down to St.Louis or up to Omaha is worth it. I love adventuring and visiting new places so much - there is absolutely nothing better in my opinion. With this extra time off, I am now able to do one of the things that I love most in this world - travel!

7. Growing Up and Taking Responsibility - Since I was younger, I have always relied on my parents to help me out with stuff. This includes doing my laundry, making me food and even helping me clean my room. If I decided to graduate early, I knew that I would have to grow up and start doing things on my own. I would no longer be a high school student and it would be time to grow up. Even though that sounds scary, I was excited to grow up. Growing up means learning more and that is exactly what I've done. I now am responsibly for my own laundry, making my own meals, getting my own gas and several other new things. I actually really enjoy this new found responsibility that I have in life. It makes me feel older and like I can actually do stuff on my own. Plus, it is good practice for when I actually have to start living alone. It was time for me to grow up!

8. Focusing On My Music - Since graduating, so much of my free time has been dedicated to working on new music. As you have probably noticed by now, I started my very own website! That's absolutely insane to me. Along with my website, I have also started a YouTube channel that I have been posting weekly videos on. With all the filming, editing and preparation it takes to make a video, it ends up taking such a long time. I have been wanting to start up YouTube for so long, and now because I decided to graduate early I actually have the time to do it. I also have just been working on music in general. I now have time to actually play my guitar everyday. That is something that I have never been able to do. I am constantly playing, writing and singing. This genuinely is when I feel the most happy, so I am so excited that graduating early allowed me the time I needed to do this!

9. Accepting My Differences - Growing up, I always knew that I thought differently from those around me. Normal high school students were interested in going to the football games and attending parties. I, on the other hand, wanted to focus more on my future. I was more interested in staying home and working on my music. I'd rather stay home on a Friday night and record a new cover than go out like everyone else. I also just thought differently in general. Most high school students don't think about the future as much as I did. I was constantly just working on advancing myself through social media and music, which eventually made it very hard to keep up with all the work from school. This led me to the decision I made to graduate early. I now am surrounded by people who think the way I do and encourage creativity. The new environment that I am in has been such a blessing. I'm different, and that's okay.

10. Saving Up For College - As of recently, I was told that I would be responsible for paying for my college tuition. With this information in mind, I knew I had to do something in order to start saving up. I would have no time at all to get a job if I was in high school, so I decided to graduate early. With this decision, I knew I would have more time on my hands that would allow me to earn money. I never imagine I would have taken up two part time jobs from the company that I am interning for, but life is full of surprises. I now am working towards saving the money I make and putting it in the bank until college rolls around in the fall. Without the opportunity to graduate at semester, I would be entering college with absolutely no money saved, and that's terrifying. The best news is, that not only am I making money, but I am also loving what I do. I don't look at it as a job. Instead, I'm getting the opportunity to do something I love everyday and save up for my education at the same time.

In Conclusion: There are several different reasons why I decided to graduate high school early and here are a few of them. I hope this helps answer the question for those of you who were wondering. The truth is, I do miss high school. I miss seeing my friends everyday and feeling like I could do anything in the world. However, my life is exactly where I want it to be as of now. I have done some incredible things just in a few months, and I am forever grateful that I got this opportunity to do so. If you want something, go after it. It doesn't matter what everyone around you is doing or saying. Stick with that you want and what you believe in, and you will be okay.

- xoxo, Abs