While most seniors view their last semester in high school as one to be remembered, senior Abigail Archibong will remember her last days in high school very differently due to the fact that she is now the first student to qualify for early graduation. This qualification comes because of a parent’s job change and a scholarship to play volleyball at Kansas State University.

Archibong began considering early graduation when her dad, Godfrey Archibong, moved to Arizona this past summer due his new job as a pharmacist. He wanted her to move to Arizona her second semester of the current school year so she could be with her family before going to college.

“I didn’t know what to do because I didn’t want to uproot high schools and go somewhere else, so I brought up the idea of graduating a semester early,” Archibong said.

According to counselor Trish Chandler, in order to meet district graduation requirements and NCAA scholarship requirements, Archibong’s schedule had to be changed.

“My role is to make her schedule work so she’s still meeting graduation requirements, but also in her case they have to look at NCAA requirements so that way she is still eligible for her scholarship,” Chandler said. “We had to look at her english and her math requirements so that we [would] have the four years [required].

In terms of advantages, Archibong is receiving many more then other freshmen will receive, both with her education and her volleyball career at Kansas State University.

“I will be getting the training and  help I need to advance [in volleyball],” Archibong said. “Then getting that full semester ahead of the people in my class, honestly I could end up going into next fall as a sophomore.”

However, in graduating early, Archibong believes she is giving up key experiences in her senior year.

“I don’t get to end my senior year with my friends,” Archibong said. “I can’t participate in activities second semester, so I can’t go to prom, I can’t participate in senior prank, and I don’t get to fully enjoy my senior year.”

Sophomore Faith Archibong, Abigail’s younger sister, believes that graduating a semester early will ultimately benefit Abigail, but will be sad to see her sister go.

“I’m happy for her because she gets to go to college earlier, but I feel like she’s going to have some trouble just jumping into college next semester since she’s not taking [this] semester to get settled and everything,” Faith said. “Lately I’ve been telling myself that it’s probably going to be good to see her go just because we fight sometimes, but I’m going to miss her a lot.”

As the semester comes to a close, Archibong leaves a parting message for the teachers who helped support her through this process and her entire high school career.

“Thank you for all your support, thank you for your encouragement, and thank you for staying those late hours,” Archibong said. “Thank you for motivating me to be the best person I could be.”