As first semester comes to a close, many seniors are beginning to prepare for their final semester; however, for senior Kirsten Baska and many others, this semester will be her last.

At the start of her junior year, Baska realized that graduating early was the best decision for her.

“I think I’m just really mature…and I figured that if I could get out, I would,” Baska said.

Baska will be going to Emporia State University in the fall to study elementary education, but she will spend the semester off saving money.

“I’m going to be working … and that’s exciting because I’ll be full time,” Baska said.

Senior Karen Cano also plans to spend her semester off school working to save enough money to attend vocational school.

“I decided I wanted to graduate early last year because it would help me a lot if I had money to go to cosmetology school,” Cano said.

Senior Rebekah Andersson made the decision to graduate early after realizing she would meet the requirements to graduate by the end of the fall semester her senior year.

“I just knew there wasn’t really a purpose for me to do another semester of high school because I already had all my credits,” Andersson said.

Originally Andersson planned on working, but she was presented the opportunity to travel abroad.

“I’m going to be in Sweden with a group called … Youth With A Mission (YWAM), we’re going to be going from church to church and ministering there …after that I’ll be doing outreach,” Andersson said.

Andersson will return to the U.S. for the 2016 fall semester at the University of Arkansas.

“I’m hoping to study pre-med and then after that …go to med school,” Andersson said.

Much like Andersson, senior Abigale Williams will be spending the spring semester abroad.

“I’m going to be in Germany for five months going through the school system in Eutin, [Lawrence’s] sister city,” Williams said.

Williams will be splitting her time between Eutin and exploring the rest of Germany.

“I just want to explore and travel and kind of learn about myself and how I work independently and how to live on my own,” Williams said. “I haven’t had a plan yet, but I know that I’m just going to travel at some point and see family.”