Preparing for Success by Katie

Preparing for Success by Katie - August 2015 Scholarship Essay

It’s easy for me to remember high school like it was yesterday, (leaving aside the fact that I look like I’ve just graduated high school this last year). Although I’m now a nursing student at St. Petersburg College, high school was not something I was entirely confident about. Learning the academic basics seemed important, but I feel like there was more that I should have learned within the four years I spent in high school before beginning college. As I began to apply for schools, I realized I had no idea what I was getting myself into: “What’s financial aid- I’m eligible for that?”, as all the more obvious questions seemed to pile up in my head. I began to wonder at this time why I never learned about life preparation after high school while I was still in high school- it seemed like a no-brainer, we did this in elementary and middle school!
Lo and behold, life after high school is not an easy place. Many newly grads from high school are now at the age where decisions are left entirely up to them, amounting in pressure and uncertainty that at times can become quite frustrating. “What is the best thing for me to do with my life?” one might ask, sometimes not realizing that every person and situation is different and require different needs. It is this which stalls the growth and journey of high school graduates, although many of these newly grads will be working low wage jobs to say the least. There is more to life after high school then simply working part time, though, and I believe high school student should be reassured of this by becoming educated about post-high school life before graduation.
I propose this: A week before graduation, what if all of the seniors from a high school gather into an auditorium for a week-long all day lecture. This lecture would have a variety of speakers, including: firefighters, police officers, a local business owner, teachers, a doctor, and even a nurse. Students may ask questions and gain feedback about various different career choices, while college administrators can help students see how easy it is to do these things and become whatever it is they would like. This week-long event would be a mandatory “class” and give students the opportunity to gain insight about their near-coming future and what opportunities are widely available to them. Something such as this would be encouraging to students, giving them a solid foundation of reassurance to know that they have the potential to do great things in this world.