Many students utilize the College and Career Center as a place to gather their documents for college, attend college visits and more.

The letter comes in the mail. You’ve been waiting for months, putting the work in for years, all for this one afternoon. As soon as you get home, you throw your bag down and tear the envelope open, hands shaking. You nervously open the letter and scan the first few lines, looking for that “Congratulations” that lets you know that all of that hard work paid off.

For freshmen, there’s still quite a lot of time, which is why it’s important to start high school off on the right foot. Get some of the graduation requirements like the Fine Arts credit out of the way, so there’s no stress about taking all the required classes senior year.

Senior Starr Ruben chose to take yoga her freshman year so she wouldn’t have to worry about it later on.

“Taking yoga was really fun because all my friends were doing it and I had more time in junior and senior year to take art and theater classes,” Ruben said.

Sophomore year is when things begin to pick up. Oftentimes, sophomore year is when people either take their first AP or face multiple APs in one year, so it’s important to keep those grades high while still taking challenging classes!

Junior year is the stage of the college process in which the most important events take place, such as when most students begin thinking about the SAT and the ACT. Get started early, so you have time to retake the test if necessary.

Many juniors also use the year to get a job in order to gain some experience to put on both college applications and resumes. Senior Andrea Umana got her first job working at Adidas, and she feels as though it was a beneficial experience.

“Having a job during the school year helped me learn how to manage my time efficiently. I have to stay on top of my school work while going to work and it has made me a more responsible person,” Umana said.

By senior year, it’s application season. Getting as much done as possible during the summer can lead to less stress later on, with the added work of school and sports. Staying on top of everything is the key to success, and in a few short months, the daunting college application process will come to a close.