7 TIPs That Helped Me Graduate Early!
Written by Alina B. | Posted in Why Whitmore

Early? Yes, I graduated early!
There is no pressure to graduate in a certain time-frame at Whitmore. That is just one of the many benefits of going to a self-paced school. When my parents enrolled me in Whitmore, I was really not enthusiastic about school. In fact, I just wanted to be done with it. That is another benefit of Whitmore School. You are in charge of your own schedule, and if you want to accelerate your graduation, you can. Here is how I did it.
When my parents enrolled me in Whitmore, I remember the first time I submitted a lesson. It was in my English class, as I was working on my lesson, I realized there was no pressure of getting it finished by a certain time, I could take my time and really think about what I wanted to write. I really felt like I was learning. I loved not feeling pressured to get a paper done by a certain deadline.
After submitting the submit button of my first English assignment, I remember kind of freaking out! Thinking, “Oh no, I shouldn’t have submitted that yet!” Within a few hours, my teacher, Derwin, replied back to me and he said this, “Alina, your writing is excellent! You may move on to the next lesson.”
I couldn’t help but jump up and down! That was the first time in a LONG time that a teacher had complimented me, and I got my first A at Whitmore School. My teacher gave me the confidence and the ability to see that I was capable of doing this!
Each lesson I did, I worked harder and tried to improve with each post. I not only did school work throughout the school year, but I also went through the summer. I was determined to work as hard as I could. If you are trying to accelerate your graduation, here are few tips to keep in mind:
- The KEY to graduating early is being motivated!! This needs to be your goal, not some one else’s idea of when you should graduate.
- Take little breaks while you do your school work. I am not talking about a 3-hour break, I mean get up, move around and get a snack. Then sit down and start working again.
- “Going to school” in different places of the house helped a lot. It gave me a different scenery so that I didn’t get bored.
Don’t watch TV while you are trying to do your school work, as tempting as it is. Chances are, you won’t get much done (trust me, I tried – ha-ha!), and the quality of your work will suffer. That leads to more revisions, which will slow you down.
Put your phone away! It is so easy to get distracted by YouTube videos of cute little cats, but this isn’t going to get you through your classes. Try putting your phone on silent or in a completely different room. Use it as a reward when you are taking a mini-break.
- If the teacher asks you to revise your work, don’t get frustrated. They are giving you a second chance on revising your work to earn a better grade. Who can argue with that?
- When I would have a tough lesson, I would walk away from the computer and take my mind off of it for a few minutes. This helped me clear my head and continue to push through a tough lesson.
All these things helped me stay focused on my courses and got me ahead. Not every day was easy, but I made the best of it. The teachers were always right there to help when I had questions. They always encouraged me and believed in me and kept me chugging along.
Never give up on yourself! Getting that Diploma in your hand, makes it all worth it. If I can do this, so can you!
Would you like to learn more about the amazing online school with no semesters and no deadlines? Whitmore School allows you to work at your pace, whether you need more time (like I did in math), or you are ready to move quickly through your courses. Click here to learn more about Online Learning at Whitmore School.
Written By:
Alina B. – Admissions Assistant
2009 Graduate
November 6, 2018 in How to Choose the Right Online School, How to Stay Motivated in Online School, Academic Success in Online School
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