Senior year for most students is the beginning of the end of their high school career. This means it is time to start planning what their lives will be without a schedule. This is overwhelming for many students while others have had a set idea for years. This brought up the question of what people are doing after high school. After 12 years of schooling, many students have grown up with each other, bringing light to their adult decisions as they leave high school.
With a 98% graduation rate, Monticello High School is in the 28th percentile. Many seniors have their plans after high school planned out. Senior Kiley Williams shared, “I’ll be attending Illinois State University to major in Elementary education.”
Students’ majors vary in largely different categories depending on what they are interested in, environment, and income. Williams explained, “I’m going to ISU because I’ve heard they have an amazing teaching program and that’s what I’m passionate about!”
Other students took the sports route when planning what they were doing after high school. Senior Marissa Miller said, “After graduation I will be attending Iowa Lakes Community College with scholarships for softball and wrestling.”
She also mentions how her college experience with sports will be balanced with her education. Miller added, “I plan to study business but would like to focus on my automotive journey as I plan to become a technician at an automotive shop in the future.”
She hopes for a scholarship after graduation so she can continue her career at a 4 year university. From there she will attend a tech school and find a specific part of the automotive program to excel in and get a degree in that area. Miller painted the picture of her future when she said, “After Tech school, I hope to move to Colorado and find a job as a tech in a family owned automotive shop.”
Some seniors have planned their lives around where they attend college or work after highschool while others may just want to go with the flow. This is a big moment for most students as it is their first choice as adults about what they want to do. The first real choice they get to make is their plans after high school, which is hard for many people since they have followed a mandated schedule most of their lives. This will be the first time they get to do something for themselves and really get to know what they want. Stress and pressure is a common factor when many people haven’t had the opportunity to find out what they are good at or passionate for.
In other cases, many students are excited for this change of environment. Senior Chloe Shapland has plans to connect her college life with where she eventually wants to go anyways. Shapland stated, “After highschool, I am attending the University of Kentucky and majoring in pre-business. With the major, I plan on going into real estate and hopefully moving somewhere south.”
Annika Wright, Staff Writer
wrian25@sages.us
The Sage Informer 
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