“But these are the best years of your life!”

While I have been disagreed with on numerous occasions, making the decision to leave high school a year early was the greatest choice of my life. Don’t get me wrong. I love my friends and all of the activities I’m involved in, but there was also a ton of baggage. Because of the immaturity and pettiness of some people, it just didn’t seem worth it to stay, because believe it or not, there is so much more out there than the fishbowl that is high school.

I get it. I’m already one of the youngest people in my year, and skipping a grade doesn’t help. It’s still quite unnecessary for you to be telling me how unprepared I am for “the real world." I know high school is much easier than college will be.

I know I’m going to miss my family and friends. I know I’m going to deal with many unexpected challenges, but it is entirely worth it because I get to take the next step in pursuing a new stage of my life.

For the people that say this was the best time of their lives, I’m sorry. I understand that your teenage years are a fun part of growing up, but I also believe that if you live your life right, there is no way there aren’t better things waiting for you in the future.

Between adults in my life and even other kids that are my age, I have been told more times than I can count that I’m making a mistake. I know everyone telling me this has my best interest at heart, but please just know that I am totally aware of what I’m doing by graduating, and I completely stand by the decision that I made six months ago.

So before telling me any of following “suggestions” please remember I didn’t make this choice in the blink of an eye; I thought about it for weeks until finally committing to being a senior a year early.

1. “But you’re not a real senior.”

When people have opposing views on my early graduation, it is usually adults telling me not to grow up too fast. In other scenarios, I deal with “real seniors” telling me that I’m just a junior. This is in no way true. I have worked just as hard as all of you to reach this point in my life, and I’m proud to be a “fake senior” if that means I can pursue my goals a year earlier than I originally would have. When I walk the stage at graduation, my name won’t be announced any differently than the rest of the graduating class. This is because I am a real senior.

2. “College is going to be way harder than high school.”

I know this. College is meant to be more difficult; that’s just how it is, but in case you didn’t know, I will already have nine credits by the time I graduate high school. If I would’ve stayed back in high school, I would be taking all college classes anyway, so why not get the social part of the college experience, too?

3. “What about all of your friends?”

Okay, so I know I will definitely be seeing less of my friends, but they aren’t going to fall off the face of the earth just because I go to college. There are weekends, holiday breaks, and summer vacation! I think I’ll be able to make time for friends who I truly care about seeing, and to be fair, it’s not like I’m not going to meet anyone in college. I’ll make more friends who are actually more like me because there is a much wider variety of people. So yeah, I might see less of my friends from high school, but that doesn’t mean I’ll never see them again.

4.“Won’t you miss sports and clubs?”

Volleyball, Guitar Club and A.V. have been huge parts of my life in high school. Obviously, they are things that I will miss, but I can still continue to pursue them in college. Even if I don’t play on the main volleyball team, I can still play for fun on a less official team. There are also ways for me to continue being a part of my school’s guitar club after graduating. At my school, A.V. isn’t just a club. We hang out together all the time and become a close group. So maybe we won’t see each other as often as we’d like, but because of the tight knit bond we have formed over the years, there is no doubt in my mind we’ll find ways to spend time together outside of school.

5. “You’re just asking to grow up faster!”

In a way, this is true. As I’ve said before, I’m ready for the next part of my life, and if that means growing up a bit faster, then I guess that’s what I want. Before you tell me that I’ll have bills to pay and college debt to pay off, just think for a minute. Did you graduate early? Probably not. Do you still have bills and student loans to pay off? Chances are the answer is yes.

Unless you get a really good scholarship, just about everyone who continues their education after high school will have debt from student loans. To be honest, the debt isn’t even starting any sooner than it would have. If I would’ve graduated with my original class, I would’ve continued my dual enrollment and taken all college classes anyway. In case you don’t get what I’m trying to say, this means I easily could’ve finished high school with at least one year of college finished, and I’d only have three years left, meaning I’d graduate college in the same year whether I graduated high school with the class of 2018 or 2019.

I get that I have challenges to face in the very near future, but that’s okay because that’s a part of growing up, which I am 100% ready to do.