Four months from now, senior Ethan Drake will be on his way to Bali. Seniors Natalie and Diana Lim will either be in Taiwan or working on a teen photography project. No longer confined to a classroom for their second semester of high school, they will be able to gain work experience at a tech company or free to travel the world.

All three seniors will graduate a semester early and will use their time to explore their interests and broaden their world view. In order to do so, they must take two English classes during their first semester, as well as both Civics and Economics, in order to fulfill their graduation requirements.

“We talked to our parents, both of whom graduated early, and they were saying how it would be a great opportunity,” Natalie said. “It was definitely our decision, but they were supportive.”

Diana said that both she and Natalie had been considering taking a gap year, but they both thought that a full year would set them behind.

“Graduating a semester early would give us that gap year experience but not be as long of a period,” Diana said.

Drake said that while he was choosing his classes for his senior year, he realized that he did not need very many credits in order to meet his graduation requirements, so he talked to his counselor and figured out how to fit in the credits he needed.

“I think [my parents] want me to travel and learn about the world,” Drake said. “I think that they agree with me that I could probably learn more by traveling in that semester than I would in school that semester.”

Natalie said her parents feel very similarly about her high school experience.

“We’ve been working very hard these past few years. To be honest, I feel a little burnt out,” Natalie said. “[My parents] also recognize that the real world is a very valuable classroom,” Natalie said.

As a result, the three seniors all plan to branch out during their second semester and explore the world, hoping to gain experiences that they would not have the opportunity to discover in high school.

“Above all, we’re just excited to see what we’re going to do and how we’re going to make the most of our time,” Diana said.

Natalie said that she has several goals for how she wants to spend her time during her second semester. The first is to gain more work experience, possibly at the tech company that she interned for over the summer. Through the extra work experience, she hopes to gain a better understanding as to what major and career that she wants to pursue in the future.

As for Diana, she will continue working on her minimalist teen photo project, which she is collaborating on with Oscar-nominated artist JR.

“The goal of the project is to photograph minimalist teens and millennials around the world in order to capture and spread awareness about the rising movement of minimalism in younger generations,” Diana said.

“[Our last] objective is to broaden our world views through travel,” Natalie said. “One of our options is to stay with our grandparents who live in Taiwan. We haven’t seen them in several years, and we’d like to immerse ourselves in the culture and improve our Chinese language skills.”

Drake said that his plans include traveling to Bali for a month to work at a school, he said.

“[Afterward], I’m probably going to go to Southeast Asia for a bit, and maybe Diana and Natalie can meet me there,” Drake said.

Drake said that part of his plan includes strapping on a backpack and exploring for five months of his gap semester, but he does not know where he is going to travel during that time yet.

While all three are looking forward to their future adventures during their time away from school, they also recognize that they will miss part of the classic high school experience.

“I think one of the things that I’ve heard from a lot of people about second-semester senior year is that a lot of people branch out socially,” Diana said. “I feel like because we will be graduating early, we may miss out on some of that.”

Drake said he feels as though he is just getting to know more people and wants to stay a part of that. While he thinks Piedmont is a really wonderful community, he is anxious to see the world.

“I know that my friendships are very strong and they’ll keep growing even if I’m not going to be at school,” Natalie said.