Many seniors associate the preparation for college with stress, including college applications. Next September, many will be out of high school and have to deal with the complications that come with that.

One source of stress is saying goodbye to high school friends, and entering a new location. Senior Trevor Tinsley offers a way to remember all of his previous friendships.

“It is definitely hard, but we all will agree that it is for the best and that I will never say goodbye,” Tinsley said. “It will always be ‘until we meet again.’”

Another concern for future college students is student loans. The majority of students take out loans or compete for scholarships to maintain the rising prices of college.

“I think student loans are a good way for a student to be able to go to college,” Tinsley said. “However, I believe that people should be mindful that many people pay student loans years after they graduate from college, and they should always apply for scholarships.”

One element of the college application process which allows students to express their individuality is the personal essay.

“If you have a 4.5 GPA and a 1500 SAT, and sit on the couch all day and do nothing else, colleges don’t want that. Colleges want to see your involvement in clubs, in outside activities,” Tinsley said. “That is why I think the personal essay is the best way to describe yourself because it is the few parts of a college essay that shows your distinctness and unique qualities against other candidates.”

In order to optimize a student’s chances, senior English teachers require submitting personal essays.

“One of the things to remember is that thousands of students will be applying to colleges across the country. Many of those applicants will have the same courses on their transcripts, and many will have the same GPA,” Dennis Gordon, an English Four teacher, said. “The only thing that will differ the applicants is the college essay. It needs to be memorable.”

Other concerns exist for college too; one of which is adjusting to college life.

“I believe that high schools should integrate applying for colleges and adjusting to future college life into their curriculums,” Tinsley said. “After all, we have been doing the same thing for 13 years, and… it is very difficult to transition from high school to college life in 3 months.”

Judd Pfeiffer, another English Four teacher, believes that the stress which comes with high school is worth the college experience.

“College usually allows people to get better jobs in the future,” Pfeiffer said. “But I think there are more important benefits: college allows one to learn who they are, allows one to meet new people, allows one to learn from geniuses, allows one to figure out what it is they want to do with their life and allows one to have a lot of fun.

Tinsley also has expectations for what college could do for him.

“College is more about the degree, it’s about the experience,” Tinsley said. “For many people, college is the best [four] years of a person’s life. Where they are able to branch out and discover who they truly are.”