She goes through the day in a weird in between. She has core classes all day with only one extra-curricular. They range from APUSH with her junior peers to AP English 4 with her graduating class.

Senior Kristin Lowery will graduate this year after only spending three years in high school.

“There’s more opportunities for me if I’m not in high school next year,” Kristin said. “Next year, I’m planning to go to UT Arlington. I’m going to do modeling down in Dallas. Then, I’m going to try and transfer to UT Austin and go into medical school to become an OB/GYN.”

Not only will she leave school an entire year early, her name will be called right after her older sister’s.

“It’s changed a lot of things,” senior Kaitlyn Lowery said. “It’s brought us closer together.”

Her initial reaction to having to share her senior year with her younger sister was negative.

“I love my sister to death, but at first I was honestly a little upset,” Kaitlyn said. “Because senior year is supposed to be a big year, everything is supposed to be the big year. I didn’t really think I was going to have to share that. Now I’m used to the idea of it.”

Kristin said that in the first six weeks, her stress levels were “through the roof.”

“I used to think senior year would be really easy and junior year would be really hard,” Kristin said. “Well it’s a mix of both, and it makes this year a lot harder.”

With her family behind her, Kristin has learned how to manage her classes through planning, she said.

“It’s a lot of homework and a lot of hard work inside and outside of school,” Kristin said. “But I’m able to manage it. My mom really helps me out a lot by sitting me down and helping me plan out my week.”

Kaitlyn, having experienced a heavy course load like what Kristin is dealing with this year, said she was able to give her sister some advice.

“My biggest advice to her was to sleep when you can; get some sleep,” Kaitlyn said. “And you have to multi-task and prioritize. You have to consider what needs to be done first and what can wait a day.”

Counselor Stephanie Schelter said Kristin had to do a lot of the work on her own time outside of school.

“She was already ahead in math and science but had to pay for the online English 3 class through Texas Tech,” Schelter said. “She has a professor who grades her work but they don’t help like a high school teacher. It is all based on your knowledge.”

To be able to graduate early,  it takes determination and goal setting, Schelter said.

“If someone wants to graduate early they have to have a goal for what they are going to do after high school, ” Schelter said. “It takes a lot of determination and you have to have everything planned out.”

Kristin said that although some of her friends are upset that she’s leaving, she will be back to visit family and won’t be out of touch.

“I know that I am going to go do something bigger so for me, friends are just here for now; they’re not going to be there forever,” Kristin said. “I feel like I’m in my own boat compared to all the other juniors and seniors.”

Schelter said that the counselors don’t encourage kids to graduate early.

“We would rather students get their college credit here,” Schelter said. “Senior year is a fun year. You don’t get that kind of experience again once you graduate. But Kristen is driven. She knows what she wants.”

“It’s exciting because I’m moving ahead and going really fast,” Kristin said. “I’ll be 16 when I graduate, and will have just turned 17 when I start college. I’m not going to let that hold me back. I have a game plan.”