When January rolls around, 53 seniors will be graduating from Flower Mound High School early.

“There are a variety of reasons why students would want to graduate early,” lead counselor Phyllis Hamilton said, “Although most students say they just want to be finished with high school as soon as they can.”

Some students, like senior Blessing Anderson feel that school isn’t as important as they used to think.

“I wanted to graduate early because most of my friends graduated before me and I went through ‘senioritis’ with them,” Anderson said. “I was just done caring about school and grades by my senior year.”

Other students choose to graduate early because they intend to start college sooner. Anderson, for example, plans to go to Oklahoma State University immediately after the holiday break in December.

Although some students assume it’s a good idea to finish high school as quickly as they can, a lot of colleges do not recommend it.

“Most colleges prefer students to earn some college credits while in high school,” Hamilton said. “The curriculum at FMHS is also harder, so students will leave with more knowledge to help them in college.”

Graduating early may give students an early start in college, but they also miss out on the end of their high school experience.