Erika Nunlist is one of many area graduates who has walked the stage, received a diploma and tossed their mortarboard hats in the air during the recent weeks. She is one of a very few in Lake County, though, who graduated in just three years, rather than the traditional four.

"My brother graduated early, so I knew what I had to do," Nunlist said. "I had to get it approved by the school board and figure it out freshman year, but it was pretty doable for me."

To finish in three years, Nunlist took eight periods a day, rather than the usual seven. She compared it to a long day at work, getting up early to take the 7:30 a.m. early bird math classes the school offers to increase her yearly course load.

The 17-year-old didn't just cruise through her classes either. She finished with a 4.0 GPA, earning a spot as one of five valedictorians at Polson High School.

In addition to working hard in academia, Nunlist flourished as an athlete both in and out of school. She played tennis for three years and ran cross-country for three years, in addition to spending plenty of time in the woods. Skiing, biking, swimming and running are big activities in her life, and Nunlist recently completed a triathlon in Seeley Lake.

"I just think they're fun," she said. "They keep me in shape."

Nunlist's outdoor pursuits have her interested in Earth Sciences, an area of study she will continue when she becomes a student at Montana State University. Her enrollment will be deferred until fall 2011, as Nunlist has planned to take a year off from school. She'll work all summer in Polson before heading to Switzerland to try and find work and spend plenty of time traveling around Europe.

"My dad is Swiss so I am in the process of getting dual citizenship," Nunlist, who is about a quarter Swiss, said. "I'll be doing some ‘Rosetta Stone' this summer to try and learn Swiss-German."

She would love to find a job at a ski resort, getting paid to enjoy one of her passions. The culture of Switzerland is something that appeals to her and she still has family in the country. It will certainly help her transition to see a similar landscape to the one she grew up seeing daily.

"Polson's a sweet town," she said. "You can't beat the lake and the mountains. It's just calling to you."

She has other skills and passions as well. Nunlist and her friend Sierra Pete have been known to make elaborate, fun cakes using a variety of fruits and nuts, from kiwi to pineapple. Anything from a yodeler to a mermaid, and even an owl, has been fair game, beautiful creations that Nunlist takes pride in, even though now they are just for fun.

"We make them as random gifts or for birthdays," she said. "We're able to do a big cake and make it really cool."

Nunlist's vision, expressed in almost every action she takes, from calculating how to graduate early to her plans for the future, was certainly a major theme in her graduation speech.

She said she wasn't too nervous to address the large crowd, but tried to think of things "that aren't too cliché." What she came up with was a mantra she tries to live by, an ode to stopping and smelling the roses.

"Sometimes the most obvious, life supporting things around us are the hardest to recognize," she said during the ceremony. "Remember to open your eyes and pay attention in life to the beautiful things that make you happy. Realize what you really live for, and get stoked."