The Sage Informer

The class of 2026 is less than four months away from graduating, and seniors are abuzz with college preparations and figuring out what they want to do after high school. For many seniors, this year was an opportunity to delve into their interests and start a foundation for some of their passions to carry out past high school. For Kate Hillard and Reece Spainhour, they’re on track to bring what they are most passionate about into college, after already making strides through high school.

When applying to different colleges, senior Reece Spainhour already knew where his end goal would be. “I’ve always kind of known which college I was gonna go to. Just cause there’s a lot of benefits to going to U of I, which is my number one right now,” Spainhour said. He sees this particular option as having many benefits: tuition would be less of a worry with his dad working there, many of his friends would also be going, and the campus and opportunities there are promising. “I’m very hopeful that I get in.”

On the other hand, senior Kate Hillard’s journey of deciding which college she would commit to wasn’t as immediate. She shared, “I’ve been accepted into three out of the four places [I applied to] and my top choice is Loyola. I’ve gone on lots of college visits, but nowhere has felt like, ‘Oh my gosh, I wanna go here’ besides Loyola.” She recalled how she was told that “you’ll just know when you step on the college campus that that’s where you’re meant to be. And that’s what I felt with Loyola.” 

Hillard has her heart set on Loyola’s psychology program, but she is also looking forward to the social aspects and networking in college, and her passions currently reflect those goals. “I’m in the Sangamon Valley CEO program, and right now we’re about to start working on our individual businesses. I’ve been putting together a guided journal for that, and obviously that kind of ties in with psychology. My goal is to hopefully get a good start with that and maybe over time, expand my guided journal into other things (regarding) the entrepreneurship aspect.” Hillard shared that she’s even considered adding entrepreneurship as a minor at Loyola, tying in her interests with business and problem-solving.

For Senior Reece Spainhour, his interests are more focused on the arts, while his professional goals relate to medicine. Regarding both fields, he has remained steady in his involvement. With college, Spainhour shared his personal motives for going into medicine. “I’m really interested in their (U of I) sciences and arts. I’m really passionate about going into medicine. I’ve always known since a young age that I wanted to help people and be a doctor. More specifically, with my sister having cancer when she was younger, that kind of shaped me wanting to maybe go into oncology, which is something that I’m also very passionate about because I have first-hand experience. It’s more personal for me.” Spainhour is looking forward to the medical programs that the U of I has to offer. And with the arts, he still plans to be involved. “One of the big things  I’ve been involved in throughout high school is our thespian acting program. It’s where I made a lot of my close friends.” One of the aspects of thespians that brought so much joy was being able to step into the role you’re given, almost as if you’ve become that person. Spainhour shared, “You don’t have to worry about anything that’s going on in your life. You’re just focused on portraying the role that you’re given. And I’ve always really enjoyed that. It’s like a different form of expressing yourself.” This year, Spainhour became an officer, and even got the chance to co-direct the winter show at the MTA. He hopes to continue in some sort of acting program after high school. “I just think it’s a good way to branch out and surround yourself with new people.”

For this year’s graduating class, junior year was a mixed bag for many. This time last year, Hillard wasn’t focused on college yet. “I’m going to be completely honest, last year at this time I wasn’t really focused at all on what I was gonna do with college. I think I wanted to either go to the U of I or do Parkland Pathways. And that’s completely changed for me since then. My passion for psychology kind of happened over the summer.” For Spainhour, last year’s stress and workload was something he hoped to change this year. “Last year, I kind of overloaded myself with schoolwork. I had a lot of pressure from my parents; they always expect a lot of me. I had no time to myself. I wasn’t as involved in thespians as much last year just because I was so focused on maintaining my grades.” But this year is looking up for Spainhour. “This year has been a lot better. It has been more of a year focused on me, my mental health, and just things that I enjoy so that I have a good last year of high school.”

With this school year coming to a close in the next few months, both Reece Spainhour and Kate Hillard are excited for what they get to finish high school off doing. “The number one thing I’m excited for this semester is doing our own individual businesses for CEO. We have a trade show at the end of the year where everybody has a booth of whatever their business was, and the public can come and see,” Hillard shared. Prom and Graduation are also big excitements, but throughout all this, she hopes to make the most of the time she has right now. “I know that I’m going to miss this time in my life, so I’m trying to at least stay present, hang out with my friends, and make memories while I can.” And for any stressed out underclassmen reading, Spainhour added: “Try not to worry as much about what your grade is, or maintaining a certain level. Putting that stress on yourself is just really unhealthy. Challenge yourself, but don’t overwork yourself.”

Eliana Ely, Staff Writer

elyel26@sages.us