“Why do I have to be prepared for college?” sophomore Adam Ferguson said. “I’m only a sophomore in high school.”
Like Ferguson, many other sophomores believe that college is far away. However, the college fair at the Center of Clayton, which invited students from Ladue, MICDS, and John Burroughs to learn more about 126 different colleges, made students realize that college is the next step.
“The college fair made me want to work harder because I realized college is coming up soon,” sophomore Justin Campbell said.
After visiting the college fair, students are also preparing more to impress colleges in the future.
“To prepare for college, I’m working very hard and challenging my intellectual capacity to become the ideal student colleges are looking for,” sophomore Drake Pinkston said.
Most students are glad that they attended the college fair because it helped them grasp more information on the different colleges.
“The college fair was really helpful because it allowed me to understand more things about each college,” sophomore Petra Petermann said.
However, some students saw flaws in the college fair program.
“I have no idea what I’m looking for so the college fair wasn’t very helpful,” sophomore Julia Grasse said. “I wish they took in account of the students who didn’t really know much about what college they were going to. But next year will be a lot more helpful because I’ll be looking for more specifics and I’ll know more.”
Sophomore Sydney Wright also thought that the college fair could have been improved.
“None of the colleges that I was looking for or was interested in were there,” Wright said. “The schools that were there were either too big or schools that I have never heard of.”
Sophomore students realize that college is coming soon, but they try to not stress about it and make the best out of their high school lives.
“I just want to enjoy high school life and try to worry about college later,” Petermann said.
Sophomore Scott Floerke also agrees with Petermann.
“I’m not even worried about college because I think we need to first balance our studies and extracurricular activities in high school,” Floerke said.
Though some students try to enjoy their high school lives, other students are stressed out about college.
“I’m stressed out because everything I do now affects what colleges I get into,” sophomore Raihana Omri said.
Wright is beginning to stress along with Omri.
“I am really stressed out for college because there is a lot of competition in our grade to get into a good school,” Wright said.
Despite being stressed out, students still look forward to going to college for several reasons.
“I’ll get more freedom,” Omri said. “Even though it means more responsibilities, I’m ready to go to college.”
Campbell also agrees with Omri because of the new things he will experience.
“I want to go to college because of the competitive sports teams and so I’m prepared to get a job,” Campbell said.
One cause of stress may be from parents pushing students to go to the best schools.
“My parents will be disappointed in me if I don’t get into a top college,” sophomore Ali Rangwala said.
Other parents are more supportive with their child’s decision in what college they want to go to.
“My parents want me to be happy about where I want to go,” sophomore Emma Vierod said. “They are not going to push me to go to a specific school.”
With college applications and standardized tests, such as the ACT and SAT, coming up next year, current sophomore students are sure to have colleges on their mind.
“There are days where I don’t really care about colleges,” Grasse said. “But some days it feels like colleges are approaching too soon.”