Summit K2 seniors shared what their plans after high school are and what they are anticipating before graduation.
K2’s 12th graders have submitted their college applications, and some have already received acceptance letters. However, some students have decided that they want to take a gap year, or go straight into the workforce.
Renee A. says she wants to go to college but does not know where yet. “I’ve gotten into Sonoma State, CSU East Bay, Cal Poly Humboldt, and SF State.” She also says she wants to go on a road trip before high school is over, and she’s looking forward to “spending time with family and friends ‘cause it’s a possibility that I might be going out of state, so it might be harder to see them as often as I would like to.”
Other students have decided on taking a different route like Karina A.“I’m mostly taking a gap year but I am interning into a job application, it’s gonna be for 6 months and after the 6 months they’re gonna give me job offers and hopefully I can grow from that.”
Tosh D. says that his plans after high school are to gain some sort of higher education, however he does not want to make any plans yet until he gets all his acceptance letters back. He shares what colleges he has gotten into, “I’ve gotten into CSUs, so I’ve gotten into San Diego State, SF State, and Humboldt State but UCs and private schools aren’t until like March I think.” He ends with what he’s looking forward to before college, “I mean sort of enjoy my time you know I got what like a few more months left of you know compulsory education.”
Esme G. shares that her plans after graduation are, “To go to school.” She says she has gotten into “Sonoma and SF State” and that those are the only two schools she applied to. She ends with a final send off in regards to school. “Have fun, don’t get too stressed out ”
Lauren B. is graduating early and shared that she originally wanted to be a veterinarian but lots of programs do not allow it for her age, so she decided to switch to becoming a radiologist. She also adds that she is going to go to a community college since it will be easier for her. “Right now I’m just kinda thinking just anything like close proximity like maybe BCC or CCC, just anything that ‘s not too far to drive since I’ll be by myself.” She ends with what programs she is planning on doing to really get into the radiology field. “I know that Kaiser has one and I hear that one’s pretty good when you want to do radiology technology, so I’ll probably apply to there but then if not I know there’s also some other ones like in Concord, so honestly I’m just gonna apply wherever I can when the time comes and just see what accepts me.”
Community college is also an option that seniors are going to take advantage of. Evan P. says, “I’m planning on going to a community college, one in Oakland actually which is kinda cool, and then after that I wanna just go to Long Beach or something like that you know, and be a Psych major.” He then adds a little bit about what he is looking forward to. “Honestly I just wanna pursue as many opportunities as possible, like I wanna try to go for more scholarships, and I kinda regret not doing it and not doing dual enrollment.”
Yuria R. shares that her plan after high school is to “go to community college because it’s more affordable and then transfer.” Students who go to a community college pay half of the annual tuition of a four-year university. After you graduate from a community college, you are guaranteed a spot at a UC. She says that she is currently planning to go to College of Marin because it has a large variety of arts programs. She adds, “I think I’d either want to go [somewhere that is] really Southern California or maybe Cal Poly Humboldt.”
A four-year college plan is what most seniors are going into, including Gianna S. “My plans after high school is to go to a four-year college, most likely a UC. I want to move out and live independently away from my family, to explore and enjoy my self company including with my significant other and friends.” She hopes to get into all the colleges she applied to because it would be a big accomplishment for her. Her plans before college are “…to take so many photos with my senior classmates and I also want to write letters to lower classmen to say goodbye.” She ends with “I’m looking forward to being able to learn how to be more independent and just exploring more about what I want to do in the future. I’m also looking forward to having more freedom and being able to manage my time between my academics and social life.”
Leo C. also shares his plans after the school is over, which are to “Go to school still and work.” He says all the schools he applied to are CSUs and they are “Sacramento, Sonoma, San Jose, and SF.” He says after high school he wants to be an electrician, so he also plans on getting a job. He adds that his dream school was Harvard, but he did not apply because he thinks he is “not smart enough for that school.”
Some seniors are not planning on attending college, as Kevin V. says “I wanna become a tattoo artist.” His goal is to “Get a job after high school, work full time, afford my machine, my table, you know help my mom out with rent so she can get me a room in my house so I can get started.” In regards to working from home he says he wants to because, “I don’t wanna work in a shop where they tell me what to tattoo, ‘cause that’s what happens in shops, and I don’t like that.”
Joshua B. shared that he wants to go to college, graduate and get a job so he can become successful. When asked about which campus he said, “UC Santa Barbara ‘cause I just think it looks beautiful, the campus, and I heard the social life is really good.” He also added that before the school year is over he wants to “Just make the most out of the time I have now with all these people (his mentor group), before I leave because we’re not gonna see each other again, realistically.”
Additionally, Nayila H. shares that her plans after high school are to go to college and create a business plan for the business she wants to someday own. In regards to college campuses she says she hopes to get into UC Santa Cruz because it is her dream college, but she says all the UCs she applied to are ones that she really wants to go to, so she would be happy with any. Before heading off to college, Nayila says she wants to travel. “I wanna go to Thailand really bad, but that trip might go somewhere else ‘cause I was also looking at Bali and like a bunch of other places. So I hope to travel and yeah, just kind of get to know myself a little bit more, spend time with family, you know all that good jazz.” She ends with one final message to people who may be graduating soon or just need to hear a little life advice. “I would say, I wanna add to not put too much pressure on yourself to know what’s gonna happen after high school. I mean this is not the rest of your life, you know if you wanna go back to school you can always go back. It’s do your best day by day, you know, and don’t beat yourself up for the struggles of last year, last month, last week, yesterday, because today is that only day that you got, and if you make the most of it, that way you’ll know if you put your best foot forward.”
(Cover Photo Credit: Selena Mercado)
