I'd say a majority of people know already but now that it's officially official *surprise* I'm graduating a semester early (December 2019).
In August of 2016 I was just beginning my college journey. One of the YouTubers I watch, Katherout, posted a video about how she would be graduating a year early from University of Southern California. At the time I just couldn't understand why someone would cut their experience short, but by the end of the video I understood her reasons. I just knew that I would never do that.
I talked with my family about it and thought long and hard. This semester I'm in 16 credit hours, I plan on being in 16-17 next semester, taking 9 over the summer (three of those credit hours will *hopefully* be an internship), and 14-15 credit hours next fall.
Trust me, I would love to stay in college forever (I mean who wouldn't it's basically adult daycare). But college is expensive and if I'm finished with my required courses I'd rather not rack up more debt just sitting around in the spring semester. I saw a lot of my friends who already graduated take 12 credit hours their senior year spring and they were bored in class, having to do pointless assignments, and stressed out by the job process. I talked to someone who graduated early and she said she'd never have gotten the job she currently has without graduating early. If I could cut out the thing that's costing me $15,000/semester and solely focus on my job hunt that would be cool.
The only other hesitancy I had about graduating early is that I didn't want to walk in December because I'd be sad without my friends. I reached out and got confirmation that I could walk in May with the rest of my class even if I technically graduated in December.
Finally, with the money I'm saving I plan to do a bit of traveling. The planning for that is still pretty open but I'm hoping to make it happen.
I'm thankful for my family and friends who have supported my decision. It's wild to think that in a little over a month I'll only have a year left at Drury. If the phrase "last one, best one" is true, I can't wait to see how the next year turns out.
Until next time,
Taylor xx
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