By Clara Moffitt

Decisions, decisions, decisions. Every day we have to make decisions, and some pretty challenging ones too: Should I eat breakfast or should I sleep in? Or should I wear this navy blue polo shirt or this navy blue polo shirt?

For our seniors, April is an especially significant month for big decisions. Not only do seniors now have to choose between their two navy polos and a red polo one day of the week, they now have to decide what to do with their futures. After spending all of high school and the majority of senior year preparing, now is the moment it all pays off.

Next fall, Charlotte McIntosh will be attending Eckard College in Florida. Eckard is a small liberal arts school with focus in math and science. Charlotte knew that she wanted to continue in a liberal arts education, so she then had to “see which ones had the resources that I wanted.” Even though it may be difficult to find such a small school, her values and opinions about education were a strong guiding force in choosing her school.

David Smith will be attending Baylor University, a Christian school in Texas, with a major in theatre. David was pretty sure he wanted to go to school in Texas, but it was his visit to the university and the people there that really pushed him to choose Baylor. He says, “The conversation skills with the various people I had talked to were at a super high level and they really seemed to care about their school and about me going there.” During David’s visit, he made a point to talk to as many people as he could. How did he know Baylor was a good fit for him? David says he “went and it felt right.”

Madison Hanosh will attend the nursing program at ASU. Starting in freshman year of high school, Maddie knew she wanted to work in the medical field but when she shadowed at a hospital she found out that nursing was the path she wanted to take. With that in mind, Maddie did research to explore different nursing options and discovered a program that admits high school seniors directly to the nursing program at ASU without having to apply later on in college.

Peter Surin will attend Dartmouth College in new Hampshire, the smallest of the Ivy League colleges. For Peter, he says the decision was pretty easy: Dartmouth was the “best” school he was admitted to in terms of its resources and opportunities for undergraduate students in his field of study, and being very generous with financial aid. He also likes its small size and New England location. However, just because his decision was easy doesn’t mean the journey there was a breeze. Throughout high school, Peter worked hard to keep his grades up, stay on top of homework, and be active in his school community. For rising seniors, Peter reminds everyone to “start applying for scholarships early.” There are so many opportunities to help you out financially.

Everyone would agree that the college journey is a rough one, but definitely worth it. Peter recommends to all high school students to “work hard to get good grades and do well on standardized tests,” and Maddie tells high schoolers to “make working hard a priority.” Charlotte’s advice is to visit a school before you select it. Mrs. Moffitt says, “Visiting a college before you commit is one of the most important things you can do when choosing a school.” It was that first-person experience that told David, Maddie, and Charlotte how they felt about their futures.

All in all, while decisions may seem difficult and somewhat daunting, it is these decisions that make high school worth it, far beyond polo shirts.