Forging Your Path

Now that you know what path you want to take after graduation, how do you fulfill your goals? According to Hayes, the first step is talking to your counselor.

“I hope that a student knows that they can come down and see their counselor if they are stressing about anything at any time,” Hayes said. “It’s hard for us to know who to reach out to when we don’t get the opportunity to see you guys every day. We rely a lot on you guys coming to us.”

While more colleges are moving toward being test-optional, meaning they don’t require a test scores for admissions, data from College Transitions suggests they have become more important in recent years; 82 percent of colleges still state that test scores are important in their admissions decisions and 55 percent classify them as “very important.”

Gonzalez-Dysinger believes it’s important to utilize test scores in order to select a range of schools, and then research them.

“Check what the average standardized test scores and GPA are at the colleges you are interested in. Then, pick some schools where you are slightly below average …  some schools where you are above average, and focus your list primarily on schools where you fall within the average,” Gonzalez-Dysinger said via email. “Make sure that every school on your list, even the safeties, is somewhere you would enjoy attending for four years.”

Classes like Career and Life Planning and ACT Prep can help students prepare for college application requirements. According to ACT Prep teacher Peter Shull, while he teaches students how to utilize their knowledge, the results are ultimately up to them.

“I think that the class has a good shot of helping students improve by two to four points realistically,” Shull said. “I think a lot of it has to do with student motivation and how hard students are willing to work.”

Taking a wide-range of classes can help students become a well-rounded applicant. Though White plans to pursue engineering, the diversity of classes at the school have helped him as a scholar.

“It has nothing to do with engineering, but [AP European History] has been really helpful,” White said. “Not only because of [social studies teacher Chris] McAfee, but because of all of the discussions we get to have and being able to socialize, learn to adapt good study habits and manage a harder workload.”

Though Hobson agrees taking a variety of classes is beneficial, he cautions against only taking classes for a better transcript.

“I feel like class schedules should differ by person. Don’t overdo it on classes you feel like you don’t really need but you feel like you need for colleges or something,” Hobson said. “Do what you really want to do and what you think will help you moving forward.”

While Landon Butler, a 2018 graduate who has given multiple presentations about college to the voyagers, considered himself sufficiently prepared for the rigor of college, he found the application process the most stressful aspect of his high school career.

“The process of filling out and submitting applications was probably the most stressful period of my life thus far,” Butler said. “I struggled with trying to translate my personality and accomplishments into a couple pages of paper.”

Hobson recommends starting the admissions process far in advance; for him, the extra time allowed for studying for the SAT subject tests and applying for scholarships.

“My advice for underclassmen is starting the application essays earlier than you think you need to,” Hobson said. “For me, it was a huge benefit when a few of my classmates were writing their essays around the time they were due and I had started that process halfway through junior year. By that time, everything was settled and it wasn’t stressful getting everything in on time.”

Additionally, according to Gonzalez-Dysinger, “what you do outside of the classroom is just as important for your future career as what you major in.” Junior Cainen Hissong will be working for the general manager at a Dodge dealership this upcoming summer.

“I’m going to work at a Dodge dealership as well as going to Johnson County Community College to get my prerequisites [done], and then I’m thinking about going to [the University of Kansas] to get a marketing degree,” Hissong said. “I want to do marketing because I’ll be selling cars, and hopefully becoming a [general manager] of the dealership one day, so it goes hand-in-hand.”

For students not attending college, hands-on opportunities are equally as important. Coulson will gain work experience this summer in preparation for trade school in the Fall.

“Post-graduation, I’m doing a welding internship over the summer,” Coulson said. “I’m doing this as opposed to going to college because the demand for trades is going way up.”

Eckhardt will be gaining experience this summer to see if he enjoys the path he will be going down.

“This summer, I’m interning with [Crosby Plumbing], so that’s going to help me work out if that’s what I want to do or not,” Eckhardt said. “[My advice is to] look into internships and apprenticeships because you’re getting paid to learn and you’ll be making money right out the gate.”