Photo by Marley Arensberg

Senior Nathan Flood works in class. Flood plans to graduate a year early with the 2025 graduating class.

According to Lead Counselor Dana Vorsino, out of the 2,573 students currently enrolled at Legacy 2.5% of students graduate early, whether that’s in three or three and a half years.

Senior Nathan Flood found out he would be graduating early after a phone call from the counselor telling him he received enough credits to be considered a senior this year. 

“I want to get a jumpstart on college, but I’ve also been contemplating joining the military,” Flood said, “so I think [graduating early] is a very noble thing to do.”

Ms. Vorsino believes it takes a lot of commitment to graduate early because of the year-long workload required.

“Students must take summer classes for acceleration before their senior year if they are wanting to graduate early,” Ms. Vorsino said. “It takes a lot of discipline and hard work to graduate early because these students are taking a heavy load of core classes.” 

Senior Lucile Forbes will graduate early in three years after being burnt out her freshman year.

“I was shocked by how much school could drain me, and I wasn’t sure if I could handle it for three more years,” Forbes said. “I also really like the idea of going into the workforce early any headstart on my career is a good one.”

In order to graduate early, Forbes took English and science classes during the summer and double-blocked history classes this year. 

“Even though my summers were always busy with school and extracurriculars and sometimes my course load is heavy, I know that in the end it will pay off,” Forbes said. “I’ve gotten used to the year-long grind which has helped me in lots of areas in life.”

Flood believes graduating early isn’t for everyone because it depends on your personal goals and circumstances, but if you decide to graduate early you must remain positive throughout the whole year.  

“It takes a lot of dedication to graduate early,” Flood said. “We must be committed to our goals and since we are taking on a higher workload it is important to keep time management throughout the year.”