By: Mary Queisser <[email protected]>

Senior Victoria Schultz moved out when she turned 18 Oct. 6, complete with attendance to X-Fest for celebration. Schultz said the move went smoothly and that she faced no complications. “My parents weren’t home so there were no calls to the cops,” Schultz said. “We were afraid they were going to try to pull something.”

Schultz said she desires liberty. Oct. 6 was like her personal Independence Day. She decided to move out due to “struggles at home.” Schultz now resides with her friend’s family, where she said she can enjoy simple pleasures that life at her home had denied her. “I’m allowed to hang out with friends, listen to music and I can have a cell phone,” she said.

Though her father is less than excited, Schultz said she thinks she is ready; turning 18 merged her into adulthood. “(My father and step-mother) think I’m going to have the worst life after I leave,” she said. “But I think I’m going to be a lot happier.”

Eventually, she said, she wants to get an apartment with another friend. “We’re going to have to work two jobs, but my mom said she’d help get us started,” Schultz said.

Schultz spent half a year planning: enough, she said, to make her feel prepared. To do so, she had discussions with her friends and mother to come up with a basic strategy, including finances, which Schultz said caused her the greatest apprehension. Freshman Amanda Cox is preparing to move out when she turns 18 as well. “I know I have the money to afford my own home, and I know I have friends that I can live with,” Cox said.

Cox said she obtained experience in the workforce over the summer and is planning to get another job to help raise money. She said she will get an apartment with two friends, though she doesn’t know which ones yet. “I’ve learned it’s always better to plan in advance,” Cox said.

However, counselor Stephanie Benson said age is not necessarily a determinate for adulthood, nor does it make students ready for independent life.

“Being an adult has much more to do with maturity, responsibility, accountability and the ability to take care of oneself than it has to do with age,” she said. “But in rare circumstances students may be in a situations where (moving out) is truly necessary, and necessity can foster readiness.”

Though Schultz and Cox said they plan to conclude their high school career, Benson said students who move out tend to drop out due to the added stresses. “Since students in that situation often feel they cannot move back home,” she said. “School unfortunately becomes the scapegoat.”

Going back home is no longer an option for Schultz. She’s an adult now. She said, “Once that door shuts I can’t go back in.”