NAVIGATING the FUTURE: Seniors face choices after graduation

It’s a well-known fact that senior year is stressful. From having to make the best grades possible to filling out applications for college, it is apparent that seniors must be on alert to make it through the year.

“You have your normal school work to worry about along with college applications and other things,” senior Jocelin Loewen said. “It’s a lot of stress.”

This year, more than any other due to the lack of a career counsellor, seniors must ultimately figure out much of the process of getting into future schools and careers on their own. Former career counsellor Kim Dierschke, left to take a job in Denver City where she lives.

“Funds are getting tighter and tighter and certain people are not being replaced through attrition,” Principal Robert Chappell said. “Currently, there are no plans to replace the career counsellor.”

Not only are the seniors left without trained guidance in this area, but current personnel had to take up the extra work left by the vacancy. Regular counselors find themselves working more hours than usual to keep up with both their usual job requirements and the extra duties that Dierschke used to do.

“The work I was doing during the day is now being spent working with the students,” Counselor Stacy Spradlin said. “I’m finishing my paperwork after hours and on week days now.”

While the counsellors were aware of how much Dierschke took on in her job, Spradlin said that they now have a much greater appreciation for the things she did while she was here.

“It’s been a bit overwhelming,” Spradlin said. “We usually have about two to three people in the office at all times now.”

Other staff are trying to make up for the loss of the career counsellor by offering their help. Spradlin said the counsellors have an open-door policy where students can drop by whenever they would need to, although, they may have to wait in line while other students are being helped.

In addition, the library provides the GO Center where seniors can easily access it to gather information and help for going to college or career plans.

“I got a checklist from the GO Center that kind of helps me see all the things I have to do before college,” senior Cassandra Schultz said. “It’s really been helpful because it helps me keep aware of approaching due dates and things like that.”

The librarians have actually moved the GO Center from one part of the library to the next for the reason that they want it to be more accessible to seniors.

“We moved the GO Center [upstairs] so it would be closer to the senior locker area where the seniors and juniors could see it more easily,” librarian Elizabeth Jackson said. “We realized it was kind of buried downstairs, so we decided to move it upstairs.”

The GO Center offers information on colleges, scholarship opportunities, ACT/SAT help, and much more. This is only one of the many things that can help seniors prep for college.

“Scholarships are going to start being due around December,” Jackson said. “We have a lot of scholarships in the box right now that could be filled out to help students.”

A few weeks ago, a career expo was held in Lubbock to allow students to explore different job fields.

“We walked around and stopped at different booths that we found interesting,” senior Judy Hildebrand said. “We took part in some workshops and were able to talk to people about their careers and why they chose them.”

Students were allowed to put on clothing specific to certain careers and even practice surgery on a simulated patient. “I’m really interested in a career in the medical field,” Hildebrand said. “I would like to do something to help people, so practicing the surgery on the dummy was actually really cool.”

Seniors who are wondering where to begin to get ready for college should register for either the ACT or SAT or both. Without these scores, it won’t be possible to be accepted to a college. Students can retake the exam for a better score but after the third time, scores tend to level off. Students will need an uploaded photo, a way to pay online, and a way to print the admission ticket for the test.

College applications need to be sent in as soon as possible, and most applications require an application fee be paid online.

Seniors also need to be thinking about filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), which is required for enrollment in college. FAFSA will require that students have their parents’ income tax returns for 2015, so students should encourage parents to file early because the FAFSA application can be accessed in January.

Scholarship deadlines will approach faster than anticipated and many require essays and recommendations. Students need to ask permission for adults to give recommendations.

Resumes of student information and achievement may also be required, so forethought is important to the process.

With all these deadlines and requirements added to regular school work, seniors who start early can reduce stress before entering college.

“I don’t feel ready right now,” Loewen said, “but I think I will be when the time comes.” If students are confused, they should check out the GO Center in the library or go to the school website for additional help.