Future Careers

Trying to decide what you want to be when you grow up can be difficult. It isn’t exactly realistic to think that you as 14 – 18 year old students – would know the precise career that will make you happy and fulfilled in the future. The data on how many careers a person will hold in their lifetime is difficult to track, but statistics on current adults said that, on average, they would have 7 different jobs in their adult working life. The estimates for current high school students is predicting that you will hold 12 - 18 different jobs and likely in a few different career fields. Crazy! But I suspect most of those adults who have had so many different jobs never imagined changing jobs so frequently. And, if they couldn’t predict what job they would want in their careers as adults, then I don't think it is realistic to think that you will know exactly what you want to do when you are still in high school. 

You don’t know about fields that you haven’t been exposed to yet – how could you know if you’d like anthropology or accounting when those are areas you haven’t studied. That is why it is important to take opportunities to be curious, to explore, to learn, to ask questions, to observe and to find out more about anything which interests you. Seek opportunities to shadow, interview career professionals, volunteer, or work a part time job – even if it isn’t in a field even remotely interesting to you because it will still help you to learn workforce skills.

Ultimately, I hope that you see career searching as a fun and exciting opportunity rather than a stressful task to be added to your “to do” list. Remember, every day you are preparing yourself for your future. You are learning and applying skills that will help you for the rest of your life like listening, organization, problem solving, critical thinking, analysis, time management, taking personal responsibility, completing quality work, meeting deadlines, working with others (including those you might not like) and so many more. There is no doubt that you have a bright future ahead and you will be prepared no matter what (or how many) career(s) you have in the future.

Lots of Articles

Keeping up with various news and headlines that matter to students and families takes up a lot of time. And as I read different articles that I think might interest you, I have a running document where I save them. Sometimes I drop those articles into a post on a particular topic, but other times (like this) the articles just pile up until I realize that I have a lot of them. And so here is a list of articles I have come across and saved for you all, but haven't shared with you yet. Skim through the list and if any are of interest to you, check them out! Happy Reading!

What does best university mean anyway?

Glow up your high school resume

How to use AI for finding college scholarships

How AI is changing the college search

What college secretly look for in students

Questions to ask your college tour guide

What teens lose when AI write the college essay

 

Humans and AI Collaborate to Review College Admissions Essays

FYI - In the article above it talks about how Virginia Tech app numbers have grown: Twenty years ago, they had around 17,000 applications, and this past year they received over 57,000. CRAZY!!

Apps for College Search

College application essay ideas: Tips on picking a great topic

Advice to Parents: Let them fail

This is what admissions officers really want to read in college admissions essays

Are college admissions interviews required?

Who you’re really competing against in college admissions

How to make a college list

Choices & Consequences

Choices and consequences are package deals.  Perhaps this is the most obvious post I have ever written, but I'd like to have you pause for a moment and reflect on how your choices impact you every day.  If you make a good choice, most of the time, good things will happen.  If you make a poor choice, then frequently, bad things will happen.

Let me be clear, consequences are not always negative - in fact, they are just as often positive, but I think that the word consequence has a negative connotation and it is what we most often focus on.  Perhaps it would help if I gave a few examples to consider of both negative and positive choices and consequences...

If you do your homework (choice), then you will be prepared for class and prepared for the upcoming assessments (consequence).  On the flip side of that, if you do not do your homework (choice), then you will not be prepared for class and less prepared for the assessments (consequence).  Doing homework is a simple example, but the concept also applies when you think of more complex life issues.  Lying to your parents (choice) will typically lead to restricted privileges and a loss of their trust (consequence).  Volunteering your time with an organization that matters to you (choice) often leads to feeling good about helping others (consequence), but it may also mean that you have to sacrifice time with friends or juggle other responsibilities (also consequences).  Talking to multiple guys at the same time (choice) often creates drama with arguments, betrayal and hurt feelings (consequence).  Yelling at your brother (choice) may result in a strained relationship that includes less trust (consequence).  Clearly, some of the consequences from the choices you make will have an immediate outcome, but often those consequences will be longer term in nature.

No matter what choices you make, it is important to remember that you have the opportunity to make whatever choices you want, but they are directly tied to the consequences you will have as a result of that decision.  When you feel as if you have to hide your decisions, lie about them, or make excuses for your actions or words, then that is probably a sign that your choice is going to have a negative consequence.  If you want a different outcome, then you need to make a different choice!

It is hard when people feel as if they are just a victim of circumstances and don't recognize their role in the decisions they have made and how that is related to the situation they find themselves in today.  Obviously choices are what you do, but you also have choices in what you say, how you manage your emotions, and how you process the things that happen in your life.  I know that this is a learning experience, but I hope you will try to think about your choices and if they are leading you closer to the life you want for yourself or if the consequences are taking you away from what you had envisioned.  It's important to ask yourself - is what you're doing today getting you closer to where you want to be tomorrow?  As always, if you are struggling with your choices and the connected consequences, please don't hesitate to stop and see me so that we can talk about it in more depth.

Merit & Need Based Aid

Paying for College is expensive! There is no question that higher education costs add up quickly.

There are two broad categories of financial aid – Merit Based aid and Need Based aid.

Merit Based aid is what you think of when you think “Scholarships.” These are usually awarded to students based on academic achievements, leadership, athletics, special talents such as art or music, volunteerism, or other personal qualities that set you apart. These scholarships do not consider financial need. A significant portion of all merit-based aid comes directly from the college/ university. Some schools may require additional scholarship applications, essays, interviews, and many colleges will have earlier deadlines to be considered for their scholarships. It can be helpful to know that a lot of times the smaller, private colleges will have more money available for scholarships in order to help make attending their school competitive with the lower costs of the public colleges. Please also remember that there are scholarship offerings listed on the Counselor Website. It is important to keep an eye out for unique scholarships that might apply to your personal situation. Maye you would qualify for an Italian heritage scholarship. Perhaps one of your grandparents won a purple heart or maybe you have time to write an essay for one of the other scholarship competitions… no matter what the situation, if you find a scholarship that you meet the criteria for go ahead and apply – you might be pleasantly surprised at the result and if you don’t, the answer is definitely a “no.”

Need Based aid is what you will sometimes hear people refer to as “Financial Aid” even though both Merit Based and Need Based aid technically fall under that overarching category. There are a variety of different Need Based aid programs which will require you to fill out the FAFSA in order to be considered for them and some which may ask for a CSS Profile. Grants are considered gift assistance – they give you money and you do not have to pay it back. Loans which can come from a wide variety of sources – the federal government, the college, and private banks is money that you are required to pay back. Work Study programs are on campus job opportunities that the government helps fund that allows you to earn money for college through working on campus. The big difference between Merit Based and Need Based aid is that Need Based aid is that the type and amount of Need Based aid you will receive depends upon the amount of financial need you have.

And, yes, just to add to the confusion – there are some scholarships that will consider financial need as a criterion. They are still awarding the scholarship based upon some specific aspect of who you are it is just allowing them to narrow down the potential applicant pool.

One last important reminder - NEVER pay to be considered for a scholarship! That is a scam. Don't waste your money!

Senior Reminder

I know that I have blogged about this before. I also sent an email to all of my senior students and parents to make sure you were aware. But please, do not forget... I will be out of town this weekend and will not be at school on Friday. So, if you are a senior who is applying to a college with a November 1st deadline, please be sure that you have invited me on Common App and submitted your transcript request form off the counselor website so that I have time to get all of my parts completed and turned in ahead of your deadline. Also, if you need me to look over any parts of your application, remember that this will also have to happen before the end of the day on Thursday.

I know that this timing isn't ideal with your November 1st deadlines, but I am current on all of the college applications that have been submitted to me already so we can do this! See me if you have any questions/ concerns. Also, every year I get the question about November 1st deadlines - if that is your deadline it means that your application must be turned in by 11:59pm Eastern Time. But I strongly encourage you NOT to procrastinate until the last possible second. Several years ago Common App experienced so much traffic in the final hour of November 1st that it had problems with applications getting submitted successfully... you don't want that to happen to you!

AP Exam Registration

By now, all students enrolled in an AP class should have “joined” the AP course online to be able to access resources from the CollegeBoard throughout the year. You will need your CollegeBoard account information to login and join the AP classes you are taking. (If you have taken the PSAT, SAT, or AP Exams in the past then you already have a CollegeBoard Account.)

If you have a CollegeBoard account, it is important to use that account (and not to create a new one) as your scores from previous CollegeBoard assessments (PSAT, SAT, AP exams) are linked to your account. If you already have established a CollegeBoard account, please visit myap.collegeboard.org and make certain that you can log in. If you have forgotten your password, you may call 1-888-225-5427 or email apstudents@info.collegeboard.org for assistance. 

If you have not already established a CollegeBoard student account, please sign up by going to myap.collegeboard.org. Make sure you write down and save your log-in information for future reference. Remember, when you are setting up your CollegeBoard account, you do NOT want to use your school email account as your wscloud account cannot accept emails from outside of the district.

If you have questions, about establishing your account or linking it to the AP resources, please contact College Board at 1-888-225-5427 or email apstudents@info.collegeboard.org. 

In addition to joining the class through CollegeBoard, students who are planning to take the AP test will need to sign up and pay for the test through the MyPaymentsPlus system. The cost of the test is $100 if students register prior to October 30th. After October 30th there is a $40 late fee up through February 20th. There are no options for ordering tests after the February 20th late registration deadline. Please also note that for students who qualify for free/ reduced lunch, you still need to register through the MyPaymentsPlus system, but it will automatically show your fee as $0 instead of $100.

AP Exams will take place at WKHS from May 4-15, 2026.

Please don't miss the chance to register as a way to help earn free college credit!

Cap & Gown Orders

Seniors, don't forget, the deadline to order your cap and gown at the discounted rate is October 31st.  You will go to Buckeye Scholastic's website in order to place your order.

Buckeye Scholastic has a ton of options that students can select of various specialty items such as announcements and frames.  I have had many students ask me what is REQUIRED to be ordered - that would be the Cap, Gown, Tassel and Stole package.  (No keepsake tassel required.)  So the total cost for that package is $42.95.

If you have a cap and gown that a sibling wore in the last few years that is the right size for you to wear, that is totally fine!  All you need to do is order the package that is the graduation tassel and stole.

It's so wild that it's time to be taking care of all of these official graduation related tasks!