As a freshman, you become suddenly aware of a daunting task you’ll be forced to make a decision about in the upcoming years; deciding on a college. Whether your choice is to not go to college, to go to a public college, or to try for a more prestigious school, a decision will be made. You know the seniors are, or have, thought about, but what did they decide? I went around and asked multiple people from each grade what their current thoughts about college are, and these are their answers.
Q: Have you started thinking about college yet?
A:
Justin (9): No.
Kolette (9): Yes.
Josh (10): Yeah.
Anonymous (10): Yes.
Anonymous (11): Yes.
Anonymous (11): Yes, most definitely!
Anonymous (12): Yes.
Naomi (12): Oh yeah.
Q: Have you narrowed your options for college down yet, or have you already chosen?
A:
Kolette (9): Not enough for them to be “narrowed down.”
Josh (10): Narrowed them down.
Anonymous (10): I look at a couple specific ones.
Anonymous (11): Not really.
Anonymous (11): I haven’t chosen one, but I have a list of like five.
Anonymous (12): I’ve narrowed down some options.
Naomi (12): I’ve narrowed down the options.
Q: What college(s) did you pick and why did you pick them?
A:
Josh (10): Indiana Wesleyan University because I have an older brother that goes there and really enjoys it. And, to me, the first two years of undergrad are basically the same anywhere, and I’ll probably switch to a bigger college.
Anonymous (10): IUSB or Ivy Tech because they have the social work stuff I want.
Anonymous (11): Ball State because they have a really good interior design program. Goshen College because they have a good community and I really like how you can build relationships with your teachers. Cleveland Institute of Art because they also have a really good art program. And it’s not a huge school, but they have a really good community and you’re able to express yourself, not just in academics, but in stuff you’re good at, too. And School of the Art Institute Chicago because I toured it and I like the housing and I think people are friendly there.
Anonymous (12): Goshen College, IUSB, and ISU because they have things I want to major in, like social work and finance.
Naomi (12): I chose Bethel, Grace, Goshen, and Indiana Tech because I was focusing more on smaller closer schools, for say, because I don’t find myself identifying with a big college, and those colleges are familiar to me.
Q: Do you feel prepared for college?
A:
Kolette (9): It’s kind of difficult because it’s only my freshman year, but I feel like when it’s time for me to go to college I’ll be prepared.
Josh (10): Yeah, but I know there are unexpected things so I’m just ready for whatever.
Anonymous (10): Not 100%
Anonymous (11): Yeah, for the most part.
Anonymous (11): I feel like I am prepared for college, but not everyone knows what to expect, with paying for housing, but I’m pretty well aware of what college consists of.
Anonymous (12): Yes.
Naomi (12): I’m prepared for the work, academically, but like preparing for the paying and the tuition, I’m not sure I’m ready to pay for all that stuff.
Q: Are you excited for college?
A:
Kolette (9): Yes.
Josh (10): Yeah.
Anonymous (10): I don’t know.
Anonymous (11): Yeah.
Anonymous (11): Yes, I’m so excited for college! I’m excited to leave and to do what I want to do and to get a hook on life.
Anonymous (12): Yes, because it’s another opportunity to explore what I want to do.
Naomi (12): Oh definitely, yeah I’m excited about it! I’m scared, but excited about it.
Q: What do you plan to major and minor in?
A:
Kolette (9): I’ve been thinking about dermatology, so I think it’s just like math and a minor in biology or organic chemistry.
Josh (10): Pre-med.
Anonymous (10): Social Work.
Anonymous (11): Right now, I’d major in like business math and minor in something like a trainer or something.
Anonymous (11): I plan to major in interior design and minor in business.
Anonymous (12): Major in business and finance in sales marketing.
Naomi (12): I’d like to major in psychology and minor in pre-law because I want to be a forensic psychologist, which is the psychologist in the courtroom that helps them understand if the criminal is competent or not. I really like law, but I’d also really like reading the person’s mind.
Q: Why do you want to (or don’t want to) go to college?
A:
Justin (9): I haven’t decided because I don’t know what I want to do and study yet, and I don’t even know if I want to go yet.
Kolette (9): Because I want to be able to go to college so I have knowledge so I can have a steady career.
Josh (10): I feel like I could definitely benefit from going to college and getting a good job, rather than working in a factory and increasing the chance of hurting myself. And I’ll do the profession for the rest of my life.
Anonymous (10): I want to go because it’s something that my grandpa always wanted me to do, and you get more opportunities for jobs.
Anonymous (11): Because if you get a degree, you get a wider range of jobs you can do.
Anonymous (11): For what I want to do, college is good because you can be really artistic, not go to college, and be an interior designer, but you have to go to be really good at it.
Anonymous (12): It’s a good move because I know what I want to get into for work, and I need to get a good education to sort of help me with the background of what I want to do.
Naomi (12): Because going to college would be a different path you could say for my family considering that if I go to college because if I go to college id be the first in my family to go I’d be a first-generation student and I’m not doing it for my family but rather to say I’m the first one to go.
Q: Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
A:
Justin (9): Probably doing a career I enjoy, or just having a job.
Kolette (9): Probably still in college, so I’d be in med school. Hopefully, if I continue with this class, I’ll realize it is the path I want to continue with.
Josh (10): Hopefully being done with college, and I’ll probably just be starting working, depending on what career path I take.
Anonymous (10): Hopefully working, with my own place, and a family in a small town.
Anonymous (11): Probably working, with a family in a bigger town than Goshen.
Anonymous (11): Probably having my own place, having a job somewhere. Maybe not interior design, maybe I switched it. And I’d probably be making like $60,000-$70,000, and I’d probably be in a bigger city because they have way more opportunities.
Anonymous (12): Working with a family in a big city.
Naomi (12): I see myself either single, not married I know for sure. I’d have, probably, either an internship or barely starting a job at some type of psychologist. Okay, what I’d probably end up doing though is teaching, not being a forensic psychologist. But rather teaching law but my main goal is to have an internship at a law firm, but my backup plan is teaching, I know for sure.
So when I looked back at the answers our peers gave, I noticed a few things. No one I interviewed had already picked a specific college, no matter what the age was. I also noticed that some people obviously think about their future a lot, while others seem to have only considered college and job-specific things. I feel that something we can all learn from their answers is that it’s never too early or too late to start thinking about your future. A lot of freshmen are thinking about college, and most seniors are, too. But no matter when you start thinking about it, you’re going to be fine. A lot of people have worries about what will happen in the future, but, for the most part, they seem to know it’ll be fine. Not a single person I talked to said they didn’t feel prepared for college. Some of them had worries, but they still said they were ready. A lot of times, we tend to feel alone. But if there’s one thing we aren’t alone in, it’s our college quest.