Elliana Duran, WHSAD Junior
College. I feel like I’ve been hearing about it my whole life from the moment I stepped into school. This became even more real when I entered high school. Everywhere I turned there was something college related. It was overwhelming to be truly honest, and now as a junior the pressure is on. College is a completely different thing than high school. I felt like I wasn’t ready for that cultural shock! Like, you’re telling me I choose my schedule? I can live at the school? Heck, I can even walk out of the class if I really wanted to! Which I obviously would not do… but it’s still shocking that I can do that! College life felt out of reach and unrelatable until we were able to attend these college trips.
First things first, the way these trips are organized is to go to our school building at a given time, take a long bus ride, arrive at the college, have a seminar about admission along with information on resources, tour, eat, long bus ride again, and back home. Thankfully all the colleges we have visited all target things that are similar to the topics we focus on at WHSAD or happen to fall under interests many students have in our school which I find makes it easier for when it’s time to start making your college list. While on these trips the most important thing to remember is that you are the judge. You are allowed to be as picky as you want and have your expectations because this is going to be your experience! You are working hard to get into college, and you will be paying to attend this college. THESE WILL BE YOUR COLLEGE YEARS! Don’t suffer those years because you felt bad because one of the guides was nice and you felt bad if you didn’t attend or something of that nature… It’s their job. Don’t do it. I surprisingly saw a lot of stories about that happening.
Now for my personal take! I think these trips are amazing and very important if you are planning on going to college! Even if you’re not going to college or weren’t thinking about going to college, these trips give so many career ideas and overall adulting tips! Your whole junior year feels like test after test with a microscope zoomed in on you, and it’s tiring. These trips give you that little break while also giving that motivation on why you are taking these tests and where your educational goals and expectations for yourself should be. I found these trips enlightening and feel like it made the whole entire college process more accessible and less intimidating. I was able to walk through the school and judge it for myself to see if it fit my expectations of a college I would want to attend. Did I like the aesthetics? Did I find any majors interesting? Was this a place I would feel comfortable in? Am I within range to get the resources to attend? Did I like the food? Etc. and sometimes while judging I would picture myself walking through the halls just to see if it felt natural. I don’t know if that’s just me… but it helps!
High school is short and we are growing into adults that are making decisions for ourselves, and choosing a college is one of those big important decisions. These trips truly help if you are feeling weird about the whole college process or if you just need that educational motivation boost! You will feel more comfortable in your knowledge about how colleges function and how you would adapt. You get to determine what you like, what you don’t like, or how you want it. Hopefully this little piece gave someone that nudge to attend these college trips. And… good luck!
Daven Parker Williams, WHSAD Junior
College, the final frontier for education. After years you are finally going to go to college and get the career you want in life. But which will you go to ? There are hundreds of schools across the United States. And even thousands of choices if you decide to seek education outside the country. Today, I will tell you about four colleges I’ve recently visited in New York State.
The first college, SUNY New Paltz, was quite big. New Paltz is a great college with gorgeous buildings. The college is lively with many clubs and activities for students to go to. One of these activities is mountain climbing which both students and staff can go to early in the morning to catch the sunrise .The library offers rooms for students to meet in private. Also, the library is made up of multiple floors that differ in the amount of sound in each to ensure students may focus on their work or meet up with friends. The school has Division 2 sports teams and has every sport you can ask for both men and women except football. Overall, I believe New Paltz is a great college to attend with a small town for students and staff to relax, get food, and explore.
Suny Oneonta is very similar to New Paltz in that it offers many similar experiences for its students. Oneonta seemed to have a smaller campus but did not lack that college experience that people want. Oneonta has its own type of culture that most colleges have. Oneonta isn’t that unique aside from what I’ve previously detailed. But do not let the lack of my information for SUNY Oneonta discourage you from looking at the school.
New York Institute of Technology, Long Island campus is special. The New York Institute of Technology has two campuses, one in Manhattan and one in Long Island. The Long Island campus consists of multiple buildings, and a very spread out campus with many technical attributes. There are mobile charging stations, outdoor wifi, and open access computer labs.
The campus also has outdoor classrooms and a food truck on campus to drive around campus and offer food to those students away from the food hall. NYIT specializes in medicine, medical research, chemical engineering, manufacturing, environmental protection, and education. Although I did not get a long tour because of time concerns, NYIT is a school with various sports, majors, and clubs you’d expect to be at college and is a great school to consider going to.
SUNY Delhi was the final college I had the honor to visit. It’s a large campus surrounded by beautiful mountains. The school focuses mainly on architecture and construction majors. The campus also has various sports available for students. The campus allows for many club activities and student events. Overall, SUNY Delhi was a delight to go to and very fun and beautiful to look at.
Marc Joseph, WHSAD Junior
Yesterday we attended the college tour of SUNY Delhi. There we got to experience the college life in a stressful situation: finals week. The environment was completely different from the other college trips we attended. The students looked stressed and calm at the same time, some looking like they don’t know what to do. We visited some of the classes of the students to get experience of how a normal college class would be. We also visited the dorms, which I found very spacious and helpful for someone who wants to do room and board for my college experience.
Overall this was an amazing experience, especially considering I got to see a WHSAD alumni who I got to work with last year. Oliver was a great guide in telling me the ins and outs of the college experience and how stressful it can be at times. He also informed me of the fun college stories he has experienced for himself and how the architecture aspect of the school works.