Dec. 21 was a memorable day for Montgomery County High School seniors Hannah Broniec, Claire Elliott and Maggie Odom.

That’s when they spent their final day in high school.

The three students officially became December graduates after reaching the maximum amount of credit hours to graduate from MCHS, meaning they don’t have to come back in January and take classes at the school.

“I think it’s starting to hit me that I’m done with high school,” Broniec said. “High school was such a big thing.”

Elliott said she’s just thrilled that she and her two senior classmates wrapped up high school right before Christmas break.

“It’s the best gift ever,” Elliott said.

Even though Elliott and Broniec are done with high school early, they are still planning to go to school this spring. Elliott and Broniec will be taking classes at St. Charles Community College and Moberly Area Community College, respectively.

Broniec plans to attend either the University of Missouri-Columbia or Maryville University in the fall and will major in sports business.

Odom hasn’t decided what school she is going to next year. She wants to be a forensic photographer in the future.

“I want to do something that I’m really good at,” Odom said. “I think I’m not that bad at doing photography stuff.”

Odom said she was told by guidance counselor Amy Davis that she needed to take one more credit of language arts classes in order to get out of school by December.

“She told me that I have the possibility to graduate early,” Odom said. “I was like, ‘Actually, this is really smart because why do more work than what you need to?’ Then, I told my mom and she was bawling her eyes out. She was really excited. She started posting all over Facebook.”

Broniec was an outstanding athlete at MCHS. She played volleyball for three years and basketball for two. When she was a sophomore, she was named on the all-Eastern Missouri Conference girls basketball team.

“I enjoyed the sports, especially basketball,” Broniec said.

Elliott, who plans to major in nursing at St. Charles Community College, said she wasn’t surprised that she graduated early.

“I knew last year that I was going to,” Elliott said.

Davis said she’s pleased that Broniec, Elliott and Odom are done with high school.

“I’m extremely proud of all of them,” she said. “I think they’re making great choices for themselves and moving forward in a positive direction. It’s not for everybody, but I think it fits well for these three young ladies.”

Davis said students can’t wait until their senior year to decide if they want to graduate early.

“These three ladies (Broniec, Elliott and Odom) took summer school and things like that to make this happen,” Davis said. “I have a lot of kids who come into this office right now and say, ‘I want to graduate early.’ That decision has to be made almost like your freshman year because you have to prepare.”

Broniec, Elliott and Odom will return to MCHS on May 19 for the graduation ceremonies. They will be part of a class of 81 students.

“It’s going to be so emotional,” Odom said.