Natalie Lay has had a packed schedule since she graduated, juggling classes at Meramec Community College, a job at Waterway and an internship at Money Concepts.
“Mondays and Wednesdays I’m working at Waterway from 9 to 5,” Lay said. “Then I have classes Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8 to 2 and every Friday I go to the financial office and work there from 8 to 4, so I’m staying pretty busy with all of that.”
Lay said she realized that she wanted to graduate early after talking to a coworker who graduated early from Francis Howell last year. After talking to her counselor, she made sure she had all of her credits, graduated, and was able to enroll at Meramec because she had completed her A+ hours.
Lay likes that she has a little more free time than before because now she only has school two times a day, but she also says that the classes are much harder than high school classes.
“I have more stress about school because everything matters now,” Lay said. “Not that it didn’t in high school; it’s just that I’m technically paying for my classes now. I can’t mess up since I’m in college.”
Photo by Liad Lerner.

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