While many seniors are wrapping up their final year and preparing for college, senior Jasmine Roberts begins her post-graduate chapter before graduation even occurs.

To start of the year without missing a beat, Roberts will leave for Utah on June 8 to start summer training for Ballet West. As a graduating senior, this means she will miss her graduation ceremony on June 14.

“It’s sad [that I’m missing graduation] but at the same time I know that this is my future,” Roberts said. “I need to take advantage of the time I have over the summer for the company.”

Instead of attending a four year school, Roberts will be taking courses online through the University of Utah to get her college degree.

“I think [online classes] are better for me,” Roberts said. “I’m not the type that works in a big college setting, I’m more of the type to work on my own.”

Roberts will be participating in the program with 23 other dancers her age in what she describes as “apprenticeship.”

“We basically play the smaller roles,” Roberts said. “Because we’re so new to the company we have to move up.”

Although Roberts is confident Ballet West is the right choice, this was not always so.

“I hadn’t even heard of them until a year and a half ago,” Roberts said. “My top choice was American Ballet Theatre in New York but decided not to go. It’s not somewhere I really want to be, unlike Utah.”