The Roar talked to early graduate and former Consol student, Liz Burley, about graduating a semester early and transferring to Timber Academy for her final semester of high school.

Why did you start Timber Academy?

I graduated early with a regular high school diploma because I wanted to work more to pay for college, and then I just didn’t really like school.

What is Timber Academy?

It’s basically this school where you work at your own pace and it’s all online. It’s nice because as soon as you’re done you’re done. They don’t make you sit through classes the whole day, or lunch, or make you do busy work.

When did you start?

The very last week of January and graduated in three weeks. It was a pretty easy decision–besides having to quit debate, which was sad–but in the long run it was the best for me.

How did your parents feel about you finishing the school year online?

My mom was actually really excited because my mom works at Aerofit too, so she was excited for me to start working more. My mom really doesn’t like the school system either, so she was just happy that I was out and done.

Are you going to college?

I am going to college at Belmont University in Nashville next year in the fall.

What does your work schedule look like?

I am working about thirty hours a week now which is not quite full time, but I’m applying for a new job soon which will mean I will be working full time. I am interviewing at Starbucks next week. I’ve been working at Aerofit for almost two years. I was working in the back office, filing and stuff, and then one of the receptionists quit, so I got that job.

What classes did you take at Timber?

I just took the second semester of all the classes I needed to take. So I just took history, English and science.

What did you think of Timber?

I really liked it. It wasn’t any harder than Consol. It was about the same, except that you could go at your own pace and get things done much more efficiently.

To learn more about how Timber Academy works, visit their website.