Mary Paige’s future is a little different than other seniors who will be graduating in May. She made her decision her junior year that she would graduate early.
Last year, she went through her schedule and saw that she would be able to complete all of her credits early. With only about a little over month and a half left in the semester and with the help of her counselor, she is planning to graduate in December.
“She is a hard worker,” junior Lily Plotnitskiy said.
After graduating, Paige plans to continue working at her job in the Catholic Supply Store about 30-40 hours a week to save up some money before going to St. Charles Community College this upcoming August.
She is not sure yet if she wants to walk across the stage in May with the other seniors to receive her diploma or if she is just going to receive it in December and not walk across the stage.
“She is a very hardworking and dedicated person that is fun to be around,” Plotnitskiy said.
Paige can tell you one thing, she is ready to graduate.
“I love it and I can’t wait to graduate,” Paige said.
As a result of graduating early, she still wants to enjoy activities the school provides like prom. She hopes she will be able to go to prom even though she will have already graduated. Not knowing the details yet, she hopes she can attend through an invitation from a friend if needed.
Even with her going to college, Paige is not sure just yet what major she wants to pursue yet, but she is thinking about pursuing a career in nursing.
With her current schedule, she drives everyday going to school, work, and then back home all in the same day. The only difference with college is that she will possibly have longer hours at school depending on the classes she will have to take.
With that idea in mind, she is hoping to try to find a dorm at the St. Charles Community College, so she won’t have to drive back and forth that much. She will go to St. Charles Community College for the first two years of college to make sure that is the career path she wants to take. Then, when she decides the career path that she wants to continue in, she will go to a university after her two years to finish.
She has a university in mind where she wants to transfer her credits too. She is thinking about going to Ave Maria University, a Catholic University, in Florida, because both of her sisters go there and she would be able to visit friends from her old high school more often.
“I really like the Catholic environment at Ave Maria,” Paige said.
To any who are thinking about graduating early but are unsure, Paige encourages anyone to try.
“It’s always nice to have an extra break, so you don’t have to worry about school work,” Paige said.
