As Winter break approaches, some students will be having their final few days of high school before graduating at semester. There are many reasons why these seniors are choosing to graduate early.

“I wanted to get a head start, move out of my house, and be more independent,” Michaela Maggard, senior, said.

Some students have made the decision to graduate in order to work more to help pay for tuition for college next year.

“I am graduating at semester so I can build on my in-state tuition, so my school will be cheaper since college is not cheap,” Brandon Jensen, senior, said.

Other seniors are finishing high school early in order to receive more hours for jobs they are currently doing, or to obtain the jobs which they would like to have.

“I choose to graduate at semester because I really wanted to get out of here. Then, it became important for me to graduate at semester so that way I could take on my full time job,” Adam Sladek, senior, said. “Then I realized just recently it is important for me to graduate because I applied for a grant that helps me get a job with [USD] 501, and I just became an intern for HP Central, which enables me to get payed for that using that grant only if I have graduated.”

With the education these seniors have received, they are getting closer to applying the skills they have learned in the real world.

“I want to continuing going on with my para position at HP Central, and maybe eventually because 501 would pay for it or maybe I could apply a for a grant to pay for schooling after applying for para positions at all of 501,” Sladek said.