Graduating in four years is a daunting task for most college students, but a few Baker University seniors worked extra hard to be able to say their farewells in December rather than May.

One of the keys to graduating early is coming into college with some credit hours from high school. Senior Bryce Bowers had 41 hours transfer from his high school, which he said was a nice cushion for him.

Related Story

Commencent ceremonies scheduled for Dec. 15-16

“It was nice having those hours from high school,” Bowers said. Bowers will be graduating in December with a communications degree. “Plus, I’ve had the same major since my second semester of freshman year. I found a major I loved in the beginning and stuck with it.”

Senior Caleb Watts also came to Baker with a few credit hours under his belt, but he racked up hours during the summer as well. He believes that summer school is a good way to use free time positively and beneficially.

Both Bowers and Watts agree that one of the key benefits of graduating early comes in the form of cold hard cash.

“Your college life is over and you think that everything is so tough in college, but all the adults warn you about ‘the real world,’” Watts said. “It’s a little nerve-wracking that you don’t know what to expect, but I think I’m also ready to get out on my own. I still get to enjoy being in Baldwin, but I also get to make money as well.”

Watts gets to “enjoy Baldwin” after graduation in two ways. First, he will be working at a start-up business called Reflective Group, and he will also be the living in Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity as the house dad.

Senior John Newman believes that leaving his fraternity brothers will be one of the hardest things for him.

“Leaving Kappa Sigma early is kind of sad,” Newman says. “I have less than two weeks in the house and with all the guys I’ve known for three to four years. I’m going to miss that.”

Newman, like Watts, already has a job waiting for him after graduation. But his job isn’t in his field of study, nor is it a profession.

“I call it a full-time seasonal job,” Newman said.

Newman will be working in Keystone, Colo. as a ski lift operator.

“All the adults I’ve talked to say that they’ve regretted not doing something fun while they were younger,” Newman said. “I can afford to do this and do something fun for awhile.”

Newman averaged 19 credit hours a semester and took summer classes like Watts. While he also agrees that money is a nice bonus of graduating early, he is excited not to pay tuition. He also believes that he will be getting a rewarding experience and memories out of the job.

“Money only lasts you until you run out of it, but experiences will last you a lifetime,” Newman said.

Their excitement for the real world is bittersweet. They all realize that they will be missing out on normal senior activities by graduating early, but for Bowers it all comes back to that cold hard cash.

“It feels very weird,” Bowers said. “The thing I’m going to miss the most is graduating with everyone else and experiencing all the last senior farewell things. Money is probably the only pro about graduating early, but it’s enough to outweigh the rest.”