Written by Naomi Viesca, Staff Writer
In high schools across the country, seniors are bombarded with questions that involve what they plan on doing after high school.
They have to deal with several deadlines for colleges and how they will navigate being in the adult world within the next couple of months.
Here at Indian Trail High School and Academy seniors face the same struggles.
“There’s a constant pressure that you have to know what you are going to do after this year is over” said Gaille Peralta, an IT senior.
A million questions are asked, like what school are you going to? What are you go- ing to do with your life now that you’re a senior? Have you applied to any colleges yet?
Many seniors are afraid to go to college because it is very expensive. About 60 per- cent of high school seniors have less than $5,000 saved for higher education. Less than 20,000 students a year receive a full ride scholarship. There are other scholarships that may not be full ride, but the question is when to apply for them?
“Local scholarships really tend to pick up in the winter and the spring. We tell kids to check the Indian Trail website because we have a scholarship link. We will post every scholarship we are aware of and the due dates, but really you’ll see more due in February, March and April,” said Elizabeth Ekstrom, an IT counselor.
Applying for colleges can be hard because application requirements vary between schools. Also, a lot of students do not know when they should apply and application deadlines vary as well.
“I wish I knew how much time it would’ve taken,” said Peralta.
“We tell kids Thanksgiving break-ish just to give them a benchmark time but you, as the student, really need to take the initiative and double check that you are meeting the deadline of your college because there are some very rigorous schools who have a Nov. 1 deadline,” said Ekstrom.
How can teachers help? Some students believe that there should be less homework for seniors and more time explaining college-related work.
“I think they should be more lenient, not to the point where we are lazy, but we do have a lot on our plate,” said Brenda Mur-guia, an Indian Trail High School senior. There are teachers who dedicate a unit to focus on the application process, but
only some students are in that class.
“I always dedicate a portion of my senior classes so they have the time in class to get good feedback from me on whatever they are working with. We spend two weeks or so filling out college applications, writing their college essays, doing their scholarship letters, because I really want them to make the most of my class and do something personal that’s really going to matter to them,” said Danielle Ratkowski,
an IT English teacher.
Some students struggle just getting
through senior year. About 41 percent of teens know someone personally who dropped out of high school. Students get lazy and slack on work. There are many other reasons as well.
“I think the hardest part about teaching seniors is trying to motivate them because most of the time they think, oh it’s senior year, I just wanna have fun and want to make the best of it. Grades start slipping and I think senioritis takes over, “ Ratkowski said.
“If they don’t graduate, it’s typically because they are so incredibly credit deficient, that they either give up or just stop working,” said Ekstrom.
There are many stressors that come with being a senior in high school, but there are ways to reduce or eliminate the stress.
“There’s a lot happening. Keep your- self organized. If you’re a visual person, make a list and check stuff off, but just take a day at a time,” Ekstrom said.
“Not all of this needs to happen tomorrow, but we want you to be aware of the kind of scope of what is happening so you can plan. If you take it a day at a time, and you just diligently do stuff little by little, it will get done,” she said.
Seniors face many obstacles their final year of high school. The adult world is just around the corner, where they have to learn how to become independent.
“Becoming independent and knowing that it’s now all me … it’s kind of scary,” said Murguia.