Senior prom, graduation, wacky olympics, senior trips, and senior incentive: the most exciting and anticipated events of your last year in high school. But what if you just skipped it all?

Mason Smith, junior, is doing exactly this.

“I had no inclination to graduate early until the counselors suggested it,” Smith said. “Once they offered it to me, I was pretty excited to jump on it.”

When Mason heard the option, he knew it was the one for him.

“High school is lame,” he said. “I’m excited to take different classes where teachers treat you like an adult.”

But not everyone was as excited as him. His parents were kind of against it at first but then they got used to the idea.

“Many of my friends are slightly irked that I’ll be leaving them,” Smith said.

But he’ll probably come back for senior prom and other senior activities.

“This year is kind of odd for me because I’m a junior and a senior so I get the perks of both,” Smith said.

This change wasn’t all fun and relaxed – it has caused some adjustments to his schedule. Smith is currently taking 6 APs in a row, followed by Personal Finance. For some this would seem insane, but for Smith it’s manageable and worth it.

So in 2016, while his peers enjoy their last year in high school, Smith will be enjoying his first in college. He hopes on going to University of Chicago or Washington University. But if they don’t give him a scholarship, he will probably go with Truman.

“I’m a humanities guy,” Smith said. “So I want to study english, philosophy,

history, and law.”

And after college? Smith plans on going to graduate school or law school.

“I want to write but I’ll do law to fund that,” he said.