Many seniors have high expectations for their futures. This article showcases some of the many different paths that students will take and how they hope to achieve their goals.
College
Sixty-seven percent of high school graduates age 16 to 24 were enrolled in colleges or universities in 2017, according to the United States Department of Labor.
However, the proportion of Carlmont seniors who will attend college or university after graduating is seemingly much higher.
At their perspective colleges, these students expect to gain the skills and knowledge to help them excel in their futures, whether that be the career they envision right now or something entirely new to them.
Kiran Boone, a senior who plans on attending Washington University in St. Louis, said, “I want to go into neuroscience, and that’s something you can’t really learn in high school; I need the skills that I’ll learn in college in order to go further in that field. My goal is to learn more about what I’m really good at, what I’m interested in, and, ultimately, how I can combine those and make a positive contribution to society.”
Some of these students also look forward to the change from high school and the ability to gain in-depth knowledge about their favorite subjects.
Salma Sebt, a senior who plans on attending Chapman University, said, “In high school, there isn’t much opportunity to specialize in the subject that really interests the student. Although general education is still required in college, it is not the main purpose; college students have the ability to choose the major that they truly wish to study, and they often enjoy those studies more than the general education studies that they’ve done in the past.”
Many of the students that chose to go to college look forward to the new opportunities and connections that they will form as they work towards their personal goals.
“I think college is good for everyone if you’re able to do it because it opens up a lot of new opportunities that you didn’t know existed,” Boone said. “Students can also find a good support network that will help push them in the right directions and, hopefully, lead them to achieve their goals.”
Among those who have chosen to go to college are the few Carlmont students who plan to go to art school.
Stephanie Blackburn, a senior who plans on attending Parsons School of Design, said, “I didn’t feel that a UC (University of California) or any other state school would give me the same program and type of attention that I needed; that’s why I chose to go to art school.”
Blackburn, along with many others, has a passion not for math or English but for design. She hopes to strengthen her abilities and find opportunities for her future career while in college.
“I applied for visual communications and I want to do advertising but specifically through fashion, almost like fashion editorials or fashion journalism, in a sense. I will hopefully get a job off of one of the internships that I’ll be trying to get at Parsons; I want to be working for a fashion company in five years,” she said.
Other students who plan on going to art school have a different idea of what their future will hold.
Eli Melmon, a senior, said, “Art school will help me achieve both my artistic and career goals. At The University of the Arts, Philadelphia, I’ll be working in directing, playwriting, and production, and I’ll learn to create theatre that’s not only unique but also essential to society. Living in the heart of Philadelphia, I’ll be surrounded by a network of artists who can collaborate on projects and help with jobs.”
No matter what their ultimate goals are, many students who have a passion for the arts look for new opportunities and connections to help further their careers throughout their college experience.
“You get a lot of your jobs through your professors, so getting the network and the connections that I need locally is my highest priority in college,” Blackburn said.
Sports
Other students are very passionate about sports and hope to continue playing throughout their lives.
Jackson Velschow, a senior who plans to attend Portland State University for football, said, “I’ve always wanted to play sports because I’m most happy when I’m active. I don’t really like leadership stuff, so sports are my way to really connect with the school and make my mark. My goal is to be a real competitor on the team, and hopefully, I’ll get to start for two or three years.”
Some students chose to play sports next year because they want to focus on playing while they still can and hope to gain an education and a potential job as a backup plan.
Mitchell Plane, a senior who plans on attending Skyline College for baseball, said, “I decided to play next year because I can work at any time in my life, but I can really only play baseball while I’m younger. I want to use baseball to get an education and a real estate license so that I can work if my baseball career doesn’t go as planned.”
Many other students who plan to play sports throughout college also hope that this will help them create a network to use in their future careers.
“After I’m done playing, I probably want to coach or help out in some way; I want to stay involved in sports for sure,” Velschow said. “Being on the team will open up options later because I’ll have connections with not only the coaches that I’m playing for next year but also other coaches that I meet throughout the process. I’ll hopefully end up with a large network of coaches and sports personnel, which will help me get a career that I can enjoy.”
Work
While many students will attend college in the fall, others in the class of 2018 will focus on working next year.
Dylan Reinhardt, a senior, will take classes at the College of San Mateo (CSM) while he trains to be a firefighter.
“I’m going to CSM to take fire science classes in order to get into the fire academy because I want to do be a firefighter. I already go on ride-alongs with the department so I will continue doing that, too,” said Reinhardt.
Reinhardt, like many others, chose to take this path because of his passion for his career choice.
“I initially chose to go down this path early freshman year because I started taking classes with the Explore Program at the San Mateo Fire Department, where I got to stay around the firehouses and learn the basic protocol for firefighting,” said Reinhardt. “I decided to stick with this path because they really do hire firefighters based on experience. So, getting hands-on experience prior to applying, which is what I’m doing, is really useful in pursuing this career.”
Many who chose to work next year did so with hopes that it will benefit them more than college would by allowing them to get ahead in their perspective fields.
Reinhardt said, “When you’re in school, you don’t get to learn these very specialized jobs. I think that people who want to do things that schools don’t offer really need to figure out how to get access to an education and experience where they can develop their careers quicker. In the end, having experience along with the education in your desired field will set you apart from other people applying for the same jobs.”
Travel
Many students in the class of 2018 will be studying in colleges and universities next year while others will be learning in foreign countries.
Jordan Greene, a senior, said, “I deferred my acceptance to Syracuse University, and I am taking a gap year. I’m still looking into a bunch of different programs, but I’ll be based in Israel. Throughout the next year, I’ll be learning about the culture and taking classes at the university there.”
For Greene, the decision to travel is based on the values and experiences that she gained in high school.
“Throughout high school, my Jewish identity has grown into one of my strongest values, and I think that I have learned a lot about my culture,” she said. “I just came back from a trip to Israel and Poland; the cultural differences that I saw made me really want to go back to experience more. I’m doing this now because I don’t know when I’ll have an opportunity to do it again.”
Many choose to travel because it offers unique advantages and perspectives. Some students chose to travel instead of going straight to college because they hope to gain knowledge that will help them in their future careers.
Greene said, “At Syracuse, I’m planning on majoring in civic engagement and public policy with a minor in Middle Eastern studies; I really want to be more involved in politics and government. A lot of the programs that I’m looking at for next year connect participants with internships, so I’d hopefully make connections with different people and companies all over the world. Also, something that I’ve really come to value and that I’ll gain next year is the importance of learning beyond the classroom, and I think that where I hope to go in the future requires a lot of that.”
Some who are excited about college in the future have chosen to postpone their enrollment in order to gain knowledge that they deem necessary to their futures.
“Being able to see the world and its problems first-hand instead of just learning about it in a textbook will give me a different perspective than a lot of people have, and it will help me to be successful wherever I end up working,” Greene said.
The Highlander, May 2018
College
Sixty-seven percent of high school graduates age 16 to 24 were enrolled in colleges or universities in 2017, according to the United States Department of Labor.
However, the proportion of Carlmont seniors who will attend college or university after graduating is seemingly much higher.
At their perspective colleges, these students expect to gain the skills and knowledge to help them excel in their futures, whether that be the career they envision right now or something entirely new to them.
Kiran Boone, a senior who plans on attending Washington University in St. Louis, said, “I want to go into neuroscience, and that’s something you can’t really learn in high school; I need the skills that I’ll learn in college in order to go further in that field. My goal is to learn more about what I’m really good at, what I’m interested in, and, ultimately, how I can combine those and make a positive contribution to society.”
Some of these students also look forward to the change from high school and the ability to gain in-depth knowledge about their favorite subjects.
Salma Sebt, a senior who plans on attending Chapman University, said, “In high school, there isn’t much opportunity to specialize in the subject that really interests the student. Although general education is still required in college, it is not the main purpose; college students have the ability to choose the major that they truly wish to study, and they often enjoy those studies more than the general education studies that they’ve done in the past.”
Many of the students that chose to go to college look forward to the new opportunities and connections that they will form as they work towards their personal goals.
“I think college is good for everyone if you’re able to do it because it opens up a lot of new opportunities that you didn’t know existed,” Boone said. “Students can also find a good support network that will help push them in the right directions and, hopefully, lead them to achieve their goals.”
Among those who have chosen to go to college are the few Carlmont students who plan to go to art school.
Stephanie Blackburn, a senior who plans on attending Parsons School of Design, said, “I didn’t feel that a UC (University of California) or any other state school would give me the same program and type of attention that I needed; that’s why I chose to go to art school.”
Blackburn, along with many others, has a passion not for math or English but for design. She hopes to strengthen her abilities and find opportunities for her future career while in college.
“I applied for visual communications and I want to do advertising but specifically through fashion, almost like fashion editorials or fashion journalism, in a sense. I will hopefully get a job off of one of the internships that I’ll be trying to get at Parsons; I want to be working for a fashion company in five years,” she said.
Other students who plan on going to art school have a different idea of what their future will hold.
Eli Melmon, a senior, said, “Art school will help me achieve both my artistic and career goals. At The University of the Arts, Philadelphia, I’ll be working in directing, playwriting, and production, and I’ll learn to create theatre that’s not only unique but also essential to society. Living in the heart of Philadelphia, I’ll be surrounded by a network of artists who can collaborate on projects and help with jobs.”
No matter what their ultimate goals are, many students who have a passion for the arts look for new opportunities and connections to help further their careers throughout their college experience.
“You get a lot of your jobs through your professors, so getting the network and the connections that I need locally is my highest priority in college,” Blackburn said.
Sports
Other students are very passionate about sports and hope to continue playing throughout their lives.
Jackson Velschow, a senior who plans to attend Portland State University for football, said, “I’ve always wanted to play sports because I’m most happy when I’m active. I don’t really like leadership stuff, so sports are my way to really connect with the school and make my mark. My goal is to be a real competitor on the team, and hopefully, I’ll get to start for two or three years.”
Some students chose to play sports next year because they want to focus on playing while they still can and hope to gain an education and a potential job as a backup plan.
Mitchell Plane, a senior who plans on attending Skyline College for baseball, said, “I decided to play next year because I can work at any time in my life, but I can really only play baseball while I’m younger. I want to use baseball to get an education and a real estate license so that I can work if my baseball career doesn’t go as planned.”
Many other students who plan to play sports throughout college also hope that this will help them create a network to use in their future careers.
“After I’m done playing, I probably want to coach or help out in some way; I want to stay involved in sports for sure,” Velschow said. “Being on the team will open up options later because I’ll have connections with not only the coaches that I’m playing for next year but also other coaches that I meet throughout the process. I’ll hopefully end up with a large network of coaches and sports personnel, which will help me get a career that I can enjoy.”
Work
While many students will attend college in the fall, others in the class of 2018 will focus on working next year.
Dylan Reinhardt, a senior, will take classes at the College of San Mateo (CSM) while he trains to be a firefighter.
“I’m going to CSM to take fire science classes in order to get into the fire academy because I want to do be a firefighter. I already go on ride-alongs with the department so I will continue doing that, too,” said Reinhardt.
Reinhardt, like many others, chose to take this path because of his passion for his career choice.
“I initially chose to go down this path early freshman year because I started taking classes with the Explore Program at the San Mateo Fire Department, where I got to stay around the firehouses and learn the basic protocol for firefighting,” said Reinhardt. “I decided to stick with this path because they really do hire firefighters based on experience. So, getting hands-on experience prior to applying, which is what I’m doing, is really useful in pursuing this career.”
Many who chose to work next year did so with hopes that it will benefit them more than college would by allowing them to get ahead in their perspective fields.
Reinhardt said, “When you’re in school, you don’t get to learn these very specialized jobs. I think that people who want to do things that schools don’t offer really need to figure out how to get access to an education and experience where they can develop their careers quicker. In the end, having experience along with the education in your desired field will set you apart from other people applying for the same jobs.”
Travel
Many students in the class of 2018 will be studying in colleges and universities next year while others will be learning in foreign countries.
Jordan Greene, a senior, said, “I deferred my acceptance to Syracuse University, and I am taking a gap year. I’m still looking into a bunch of different programs, but I’ll be based in Israel. Throughout the next year, I’ll be learning about the culture and taking classes at the university there.”
For Greene, the decision to travel is based on the values and experiences that she gained in high school.
“Throughout high school, my Jewish identity has grown into one of my strongest values, and I think that I have learned a lot about my culture,” she said. “I just came back from a trip to Israel and Poland; the cultural differences that I saw made me really want to go back to experience more. I’m doing this now because I don’t know when I’ll have an opportunity to do it again.”
Many choose to travel because it offers unique advantages and perspectives. Some students chose to travel instead of going straight to college because they hope to gain knowledge that will help them in their future careers.
Greene said, “At Syracuse, I’m planning on majoring in civic engagement and public policy with a minor in Middle Eastern studies; I really want to be more involved in politics and government. A lot of the programs that I’m looking at for next year connect participants with internships, so I’d hopefully make connections with different people and companies all over the world. Also, something that I’ve really come to value and that I’ll gain next year is the importance of learning beyond the classroom, and I think that where I hope to go in the future requires a lot of that.”
Some who are excited about college in the future have chosen to postpone their enrollment in order to gain knowledge that they deem necessary to their futures.
“Being able to see the world and its problems first-hand instead of just learning about it in a textbook will give me a different perspective than a lot of people have, and it will help me to be successful wherever I end up working,” Greene said.
The Highlander, May 2018