by Julian Perez
Staff Writer
The following story was written by a student on the staff of The Jaguar Times as part of Hilliard Bradley High School’s Journalism Production course.
With the 2023-2024 school year fully in action, students of all grade levels are readjusting to new learning environments and social plazas. Within Hilliard Bradley High School, freshmen are calibrating to a new building; sophomores are establishing themselves in the hierarchy; juniors are balancing school with work, extracurricular activities, and social life; and seniors are preparing to leave behind the past four years of high school for a new chapter.
One may ask, however, about the graduates of last year; those students who truly did enter a new era of their lives and are adapting themselves to completely new realities.
Many high school students describe even the thought of life after senior year as terrifying and indefinite. Researching colleges and determining favorable majors can be a daunting task.
“The preparation was more than worth it,” describes James Goodwin, “and I’m very grateful to everyone who helped me.” James attends Muhlenberg College in Pennsylvania, over five hundred miles from Bradley. “I am going to miss the Hilliard Bradley Theater community the most,” details James. “I found such [a] great community there.”
Although he reminisces about Bradley’s theater program, James progresses his love for the arts with a major in theater and history.
For those soon to make their final bow at Bradley, the approach to discovering their path for the future is frightening to say the least. Alumni offer advice to the students still on the search for what lies ahead.
Max Hockman recommends researching various colleges that are the “best fit for [you]” and “[exploring] different electives to find what you are most passionate about.”
Max followed his own instruction; having established his career in football at Bradley, he now forwards his passion with a sports management major at Ohio University.
Conversely, some students might consider alternatives to college in the year following graduation. Emma Hampton decided taking a gap year was the best option for herself due to “financial concerns;” she found a gap year to be “beneficial to [save] money.” A gap year is when a student decides not to go to college immediately following their senior year, for any reason. Some colleges allow accepted students to take up to two semesters off - equating to a one year break - while still retaining their accepted status in the college.
Students struggling to determine whether they should take a gap year may find refuge in Emma’s guidance: “I would recommend a gap year to anyone who’s serious about it.” Emma suggests “making a pros and cons list” as well as “talking it over with friends and family who are supportive” of the decision making process.
Looking beyond the current year can fill a student with dread at the idea of exiting the familiar to enter something completely unknown. Luckily, by taking a peek into the lives of Bradley alumni, one can see that life after high school - whether it be the fresh air of a gap year or the opportunity rich environment of college - offers so much to a person finding their place in the world.
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