There are
various inevitable fears and excitements that come along with graduating high
school. We students understand that once the school year ends, our lives will
never be the same. Naturally, it may sometimes be hard for parents or mentors
to understand what's going through our heads as we prepare to say goodbye to
the comfort of high school. With this in mind, I conducted a survey amongst my
peers, asking them what their fears and excitements about graduating high
school and moving on to college are.
Although no
two of my peers had the exact same response, our fears and excitements seem to
generally be the same. As much as we are excited to experience new things – make
new friends, visit new places, and be grown up and independent – we are also
scared to leave the comfort and familiarity of home and the everyday rituals of
attending high school. We are afraid that all of our hard work will not be
enough to get us into our dream schools, or that we might not like it when we
get there.
In about a
year or so, I will be the first in my immediate family to attend college. At
first, although I was thrilled to be on the path to achieving something that no
one in my family has achieved before, I felt alone in the whole ordeal, and was
intimidated by the high school to college transitional process that awaits me. Thankfully,
the Youth Ambassadors Program, which understands this situation very well and
is aware that there are many students out there who are in that same situation,
has been here to provide me with the guidance that I need to walk down a path
that is unfamiliar to both my family and me.
Through my
experience as a Youth Ambassador, I have come to believe that some of the best
ways to make the transition from high school to college less frightening and
more exciting for students is for parents, teachers, counselors, and/or mentors
to work together to offer advice to students about graduation and college. Hearing
about the experiences of others can be comforting. Answer any questions that
students may have, since learning about something and being more familiar with
it can help make it seem less intimidating, and provide college tours for
students to various campuses so they can decide what they like and don't like,
thus preventing the fear of uncertainty. And, if you are a parent that has not
attended college, remember that senioritis (the bug that causes high school
seniors to lose interest in high school) will definitely be in the air and your
son or daughter is counting on you to prevent them from giving up or losing
sight of their goals.
All in all,
it is important to remember that although it can be stressful, graduating high
school is a very exciting journey, and a perfect memory-making time for both
students and their loved ones.
Djellza Ramadani
