Due to the fact that I have Asperger's Syndrome, my parents have put me in a lot of private schools. Although my experience with private schools on the whole has been lots of fun and one I have enjoyed very much, one particular experience has hindered my educational progress. During 9th grade, I went to Liahona Academy, which as I said before was totally fun and I loved it, but for some reason or other, it wasn't accredited. And that's the whole reason that I had to take this and other classes on electronic high school. Don't get me wrong, I've enjoyed doing electronic high school, too! In fact, it's because of electronic high school that I'll be able to graduate. I'm sure that I'd still be able to graduate, but I'd probably have to do packets or something like that instead, plus it'd probably be a lot harder.

It is also important for students to have alternate ways of graduating and receiving because some of them may  have extenuating circumstances such as prolonged illness, severe problems in the home or perhaps someone who struggles with or does not adapt well to the traditional educational system. Some of these alternative ways are electronic high school, concurrent enrollment, the Life Learning Center, distance learning, and going to MATC.

When my mom was in high school, none of these options existed. Therefore, if they had circumstances such as those listed above, they would have had a hard time graduating. If kids struggled doing well in school, too often they would drop out. I think these programs have helped to improve students' chances of graduating and decrease the drop-out rate. According to a study done by the National Center for Education Statistics, the status drop-out rate for the United States has dropped over 4%.

I am grateful for alternative ways to graduate like these; because, without them I’d sure have a harder time of graduating, therefore it is important to keep offering these alternative methods to those who need them.