Deadline Reminder

A quick reminder for those of you who are still working on your college applications over break... don't forget to watch your deadlines! We received an e-mail warning from Common App alerting us to the fact that during peak times the processing time for payments when submitting an application through their site is up to 2 days! That means that there is a potential for a significant delay which could make your application late (and therefore not accepted by the college). So, if you are looking at a January 1st deadline or a January 3rd deadline, I would strongly recommend that you plan on being done with your essays a few days in advance so that you can get it submitted and your fees paid well in advance of the last minute rush.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! I know that everyone does not celebrate Christmas, but either way, I hope that you have a wonderful day today surrounded by the people who mean the most in your life.

I am in Kentucky with my sister's family. My sister, brother-in-law and I just finished wrapping the gifts and putting them out under the tree. My niece and nephew (Carly and Colton) are *SO* excited for Christmas. I can honestly say that their excitement is contagious and I am thrilled to be able to spend the holiday with them. I don't know if it is snowing in Columbus, but it is snowing here and it looks beautiful. An added Christmas gift for all of us who were hoping for a white Christmas! :-)

This Christmas I hope you will be thankful for all that you have received and find joy in giving to others. I have so much to be grateful for this year - my family, friends, and the students with whom I work with each day. Thanks for being a special part of my life. I hope you have a relaxing and memorable Christmas!

Winter Break

I don't know about you, but I am relieved that we have reached winter break! I do find it a bit scary that we are nearly 1/2 way through the school year though. Does it seem to be flying past for you too? I hope you have plans to relax and enjoy the upcoming days off. Currently I am a bit stressed that I am not done with my shopping, Christmas cards or wrapping gifts.

Friday ended up being a little bit crazy for me so I didn't have time to blog and wish you all the best for the holidays. I hope you enjoy it with your family and are safe throughout the break. Also, as you have probably figured out, I will blog a couple of times over the holidays, but not every day - as this is a vacation for me too. :-) Looking forward to hearing all about your holiday fun after we get back to school. Again, have a great break!

Staying Organized

I admit it... I am a list maker. I have lists for just about everything you could imagine. I created a list of things I *MUST* accomplish before we leave on break (only 2 more days!) - not to mention the list I already have at school of the "other" things I need to do. I also have a list of things to do while in Kentucky visiting my sister's family over Christmas, a list of "to do's" for the remainder of break when I am back at home, lists for other upcoming school related projects, and even a list for "when I have time." So, sadly, I guess I could probably benefit from having a list of all of my lists. :-)

The reason that I am mentioning it, is that lists work for me, but everyone needs some sort of a system to help keep your thoughts organized. It is much more difficult and demanding to try to hold something in your head than it is to refer back to it on paper. I heard once that your head is a good place to have ideas not to hold ideas and I believe that makes sense. It doesn't require a lot of time, but the payoffs are large as long as you stick with it. Personally, I love being able to cross something off my list knowing that I had achieved a goal - no matter how small.

As you start thinking about the end of the semester, please work on staying focused and organized. What do you need to do to make sure that you end this quarter successfuly? What about preparing for exams? There is still plenty of time left to make improvements, but you need to start now. If lists are not your way to stay organized, that is OK, but find a system that works and use it.

News and Updates

A few different pieces of information for you tonight...

- For those of you who took the PSAT earlier this fall, your results are in! You can now pick up your scores and the test booklet from the secretaries in the front of the counseling center. As a "short-cut" method for getting a guesstimate on how the scores compare to actual SAT scores, add a 0 to the end of each score. So, for example, if you scored a 50 on the math section, you could predict that you'd score somewhere in the vicinity of 500 on that section of the actual SAT. This is certainly not a guarantee nor a definite, but it can give you a rule of thumb. The most important thing for you to do with your results is to use it to go back and figure out what you did or did not understand. This includes figuring out areas of weakness and identifying any concepts that you might want/ need to brush up on. You should also use your scores to go back and determine if there are particular styles of questions that you did not understand or that you tended to get wrong. Be sure to read through the results information and if you have any questions, feel free to stop in and see me.

- For the parents... on Thursday, December 16th at 7:30pm there will be a presentation in the WKHS Auditorium on "Parenthood: Strategies for Saving your Sanity" by Dr. Mike Thomson. Dr. Mike spoke with the staff today after school and he was a very entertaining and engaging speaker with a lot of good reminders. I realize that this is a very busy time of year and so the thought of adding one more thing to your to-do list is probably very overwhelming, but I strongly encourage all of the parents to consider attending his presentation. The strategies he discusses are important for helping each student develop skills that will benefit them for the remainder of their lives. I hope you will try to make time in your schedule for this presentation.

- Interim grades were due last Friday and so all of your grades should be updated on e-Sembler. Please be sure to double check how you are currently doing in your classes. Remember, after this week you will have 2 weeks remaining in this quarter when we return after break followed by exams to close out the 1st semester. I hope you are making every effort to keep your grades where they need to be or, if they are not where you wanted them, that you are working with your teachers or the academic assistants to come up with a plan for how you will make changes to improve your academic standing. Remember, if you don't do something different, your results will remain the same.

- Tomorrow you will be on a short homeroom schedule where you will receive the exam schedule. Don't forget, as you receive your exam schedule and we approach winter break, that this is a great time to get a jump start on studying for your exams!

It's hard to believe we are almost half-way through the year!

College Admissions Decisions

This week many students across the country (and at WKHS) who applied to colleges under the Early Decision and Early Action plans will be receiving their admissions decisions. Plus, all of the students who applied to schools with rolling admissions are continuing to hear back from the colleges about their admissions status. This can be a very stressful time for high school seniors - family, friends, and other people who hear that you are a senior automatically ask, "Where are you going to college" and so when you are waiting for or receiving your admissions decision it can be a bit overwhelming. I wanted to remind you that it is important to find a balance between hopes and expectations. Not only is this important when you are waiting for your own admissions decisions, but it is also essential that you keep in mind that your friends are facing the same worries. While it is normal to be curious to find out if someone in your class was accepted to a particular college, please remember that it could be very hard for your friend to announce to everyone that they had not been accepted. As a general rule, allow your friends and classmates to inform you of their admissions decisions on their own rather than asking them if they have heard yet. Trust me, if they receive acceptances they are going to share the good news in their own time. This is also a good time for me to remind all of you that we track the college decisions - so as you hear back from your schools, please stop in and share the update with me too.

PLAN Test Results

The PLAN Test results from November have arrived and are available for students to pick up in the Counseling Center. Remember, the PLAN Test is the practice ACT and it has a lot of great information about careers so be sure to check that out to see where your interests and abilities are for various future fields. The score report sheets contain a wealth of information on them if you take the time to actually read them. Additional information is also available on their website and if you have any questions about your results, feel free to stop in and see me.

Financial Aid

Today I attended a financial aid conference that is presented to counselors each year by the Ohio Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators. It was a long meeting and, at times, financial aid can kind of make your head hurt, but it is so important and I learn more about it each year. I am going to try to give you some of the basic information that I think is most important for you to know about at this point. (If you make it all the way to the end you will also see that we have 2 opportunities coming up for you - 1 will give you a ton more information about financial aid and the other is a chance to actually get free help filling out your FAFSA form... so hang in there and try to read through the whole post - or at least make sure your parents see this one.) :-)

Most students will need to fill out the FAFSA form (FAFSA stands for Free Application for Federal Student Aid) and it is essential to meet the deadlines established by your colleges of choice to determine what amount of aid they can offer. (Many deadlines will be as early as February 15th.) So this is definitely something that you can not put off once we hit the first of the year. Completing the FAFSA form is different than the process for filling out the college applications in that you are literally completing this one form and then you list all of the colleges where you have applied on the form and when you hit submit the information is transmitted to the financial aid offices of all of the schools. So, when you are looking at the financial aid deadlines for your schools, please keep in mind that whatever the earliest deadline is for any of the colleges, this is really your deadline for your FAFSA to be completed for all of your schools.

There are some people who will automatically assume that they do not qualify for financial aid and it is important not to make assumptions and to read the fine print from the colleges carefully as there are some colleges that won't offer any financial packages (including merit scholarships) without having a FAFSA on file. Specific questions about each college's requirements and deadlines should be addressed to the financial aid offices at each respective college.

The way financial need is determined is taking the “Cost of Attendance” (which includes tuition, fees, room, board, books, and other miscellaneous expenses) and then subtracting from that the “Expected Family Contribution” and the remaining difference is what is known as your “Financial Need.”

The financial aid administrators reminded us that it is very common that people do not agree with their Estimated Family Contribution, but it is calculated based upon a specific formula that is the same for everyone, so it is fair across the board.

For what it is worth, it is also important to know that it depends upon each school as to whether they guarantee to meet your entire financial need with a financial aid offer. You can usually find this information on the college financial aid website.

If you are a freshman, sophomore, junior, or the parent of a student in one of these grades, you may be interested in using the FAFSA4caster which provides an estimated Expected Family Contribution to give you an idea of what you might qualify for regarding federal aid including grants.

When you are completing the FAFSA application, please remember that this is a FREE application – do not pay to have someone help you fill it out as there are plenty of opportunities to get free assistance to complete it if you need it. You will also want to make sure that you are using the correct website – http://www.fafsa.gov/ – (do not use .com as that is a site that has a fee.)

You can request your PIN number now, but please make sure you save it and keep it in a safe place for future use as this will be your permanent PIN number. Parents, you will also need your own PIN number unless you have one that you have utilized with older students as it is the same PIN number for all of your children.

When you are filling out the FAFSA form please pay attention to who they are asking for information about – the beginning of the form is all about the student and later it is about the parents. This can be confusing if your parents are helping you fill out the form because it says “you and your” so sometimes parents will accidentally put their information in rather than putting in the student information.

If your parents are divorced, you will use the parent with whom you live with the majority of the time. You fill out the form based upon your “household” so anyone living in that household and under that roof are included in your FAFSA. So, for example, if your parents are divorced and you live with your mom who is remarried then your FAFSA application will include the information from your mom and your step-dad.

Please remember that you cannot fill out your FAFSA forms until after January 1st. You will need your tax information as well as the tax information from your parents. If you cannot get the tax information completed early enough to meet the deadlines from the colleges, then be sure to use estimated numbers because you must meet the deadlines established for each college and then go back and revise the information once you have the actual data.

To help you with the college financial aid process we will have a Financial Aid Meeting for students and parents at 7:00pm at WKHS on Tuesday, January 11th.

There is also an event known as “College Goal Sunday” which is Sunday, February 13th at 2:00pm where financial aid administrators will provide free expert help in completing the FAFSA forms. To find locations and to register you can visit http://www.ohiocollegegoalsunday.org/.

Tomorrow's School Schedule

Just a quick (last minute) heads up that you have an assembly schedule tomorrow. There will be a presentation on Healthy Choices from Dr. Mike Thompson. I have never heard him speak, but those who have say that he is a great speaker so hopefully it will be fun and informative! Unfortunately, I will not be able to be at school for his presentation, so you'll have to stop by and let me know how the assembly was. I am out tomorrow until sometime around 6th period in order to attend a meeting on College Financial Aid.

Here is tomorrow's bell schedule:
1st: 7:45 - 8:27
2nd: 8:32 - 9:14
3rd: 9:19 - 11:09 (You will have class and the 45 minute presentation during 3rd period)
4th: 11:14 - 11:57
5th: 12:02 - 12:44
6th: 12:49 - 1:31
7th: 1:36 - 2:18
8th: 2:23 - 3:05

Be patient and try not to panic

Let me start off by acknowledging that I am *NOT* the most patient person on the planet!

I know that it can be frustrating waiting for something to happen. Waiting to hear news. Waiting for the next phase of your life. Waiting... waiting... and still more waiting.
But the reality is you need to be patient.

Right now colleges are completely overwhelmed and back-logged with applications that they have been receiving. For example, this weekend we received a notice from Miami saying that they are running one to two weeks behind on getting everything processed and updated in their computer. They were sending that notice to us because they are also automatically generating letters that they are sending home to students to remind you that you need to send your transcript and test scores and a recommendation letter. People tend to panic when they see that notice and want to send the materials again. Colleges do not want that happening as it will simply back up their system even more. Miami is NOT the only one in this situation - this is a very common occurance at this time of year, but it does create a lot of panic in homes of seniors across the country!

Try to be patient and do not panic. If you get one of these letters (from any college) take a moment and double check - did you submit a transcript request for this particular school? Did you request to have your official test results sent to the college from the ACT/ SAT websites? Did your teachers complete their recommendation letters? There are times when transcripts will sit in our office for several days because of missing items such as recommendation letters. (I can assure you though that I only have 2 transcripts in my office at this time and both students have been notified as they require recommendation letters from me and I do not have any of their forms or information to draft the letters.) So, although this is not the case at this time, it is still an important reminder to make sure that all of the components of your application are submitted to the counseling office so that we can mail the transcripts. If your transcript was mailed within the last 2-3 weeks, then take a deep breath and relax knowing that it is likely just because their system is backed up. Continue double checking on the college website (most, like Miami, will give you access to see your application status) and see if they have everything. If you are nearing the end of the 3rd week and they still don't have all of your items, then you can give them a call to double check. Chances are they just haven't made it there and into their system yet, but there are times where things get lost in the mail or filed in the wrong area. If items need to be sent again then we will work on taking care of that, but first make sure that they really are missing it.

As always, swing by my office to see me if you have any questions. Also, don't forget that you have a late start day tomorrow! I'm so jealous! We have meetings while you get to sleep in... :-)

College Seminar for Students with Disabilities

On Tuesday, December 7th from 5:30 - 7:30pm there will be a free College Night Seminar for Students with Disabilities and their Parents. A panel of representatives from college offices of disability services will share their insights and information to help guide you in your college search and selection process as well as what to expect in college.

Questions that will be addressed include:

- What happens to my IEP when I go to college?

- Will my professors know I have a disability?

- Do I still need to take the ACT and/or SAT?

- Will I have a tutor to help me with homework?

- Will I get a copy of notes?

- Will I get extended time on tests?

- How do I find out what the college offers?

This seminar will be held in the Upper Arlington High School Auditorium located at 1650 Ridgeview Rd., Upper Arlington, OH 43221 (This seminar is sponsored by Worthington, Westerville, Upper Arlington and Grandview schools.)

Application Reality Check

I was out sick again today, but am finally starting to feel as if I am rejoining the land of the living and even have part of my voice back! I will be at school tomorrow so if you have needed something this week, please plan on stopping by my office tomorrow.

I am anxious to get back and catch up with you on how things are going, how your thanksgiving was, and, for the seniors, how the application process is moving along. I anticipate that there will be quite a stack of transcript release forms waiting for me since all applications with a January deadline were due to our office by yesterday. So, let's do a quick reality check on where you should be for the application process (if you are a senior)...

- Your transcript release form and any required paperwork that needs to be submitted to the college should have been turned in to Mrs. Hoyt (registrar) in the counseling center

- If your college forms required a recommendation letter then you should have turned in the parent brag sheet and counselor recommendation supplement forms to me by now. (I have the rec letters written for everyone who had submitted their paperwork prior to Thanksgiving.)

- If your college applications require a teacher recommendation letter then you should have asked your teacher for a rec letter and provided them a resume or the recommendation request form with information sheet completed.

- If you are still working with January or February deadlines then you should be working on editing the drafts of your essays to perfect them before the deadline.

Hopefully that falls in line with where you are in the application process... and it is even better if you are ahead of the game and have submitted your paperwork in advance or already submitted your applications! Some of you have started hearing back from your colleges, don't forget that we are tracking that information, so please keep me posted as you receive the college admissions decisions from each school.

Delaware Area Career Center

Did you miss me today? I was out sick and, at the moment, still feel pretty lousy. No matter what I will not be back at school tomorrow because I am scheduled to be at an all-day meeting at central office. Hopefully I will be back at school on Thursday!

For those students and parents who are interested in learning more about the wide range of opportunities available at the Delaware Area Career Center there is an open house on December 2nd from 5:00 - 8:00pm. This is a great opportunity for students and parents to meet with the instructors and learn about all of the different options available. As a reminder, don't forget that even if attending the career center, WKHS students are always WKHS students. With most programs you will have the option of attending the career center for full days (where you would take your lab coursework which counts as elective credits and your academic courses all at the career center) or for half days (where you only take the lab coursework at the career center and then return to WKHS for the other half of the day for your academic classes). You will graduate from Worthington Kilbourne and continue to participate on our athletic teams - even if you decide that you want to attend the career center for the full day. I strongly encourage you to check out the programs as the hands on opportunities to learn something new while also gaining your required elective credits can be a very appealing option!

Free Practice ACT Opportunity

This Saturday, December 4th, Thomas Worthington High School will be offering a free ACT practice test through Kaplan, a test prep company. The test will run from 8am - 1pm. If you are interested, you must sign up for the test in advance. You can register online at kaptest.com/practicetest or by calling 1-800-KAP-TEST. According to the information Kaplan has provided, they will provide you with a complete analysis of your results. This can be a great opportunity if you want to get the feel for what a real testing environment will feel like by waking up early on a Saturday morning. Remember it is also a marketing tool for Kaplan though, so you are likely to receive increased mailings and contacts from them encouraging you to register for one of their test prep classes.

Weekend Wrap Up

Well, did you have a nice Thanksgiving weekend? I sincerely hope so! Mine was fun, but definitely busy. On Thanksgiving we started at my grandmother's house with my mom and step-dad and then later in the day went to my dad's house where his wife and her family were gathered to celebrate. Needless to say there was lots of eating! :-) On Friday my sister convinced me that I needed to go shopping with her and mom. For those of you who know me at all or from reading this blog - I HATE TO SHOP! Everything about shopping bothers me. There is just no enjoyment from it for me at all. My sister and my mom enjoy it which is definitely a good thing for me as they do pretty much all of my shopping for me. This is the one day a year that they want/ need me to go with them. I am sure it is not my positive attitude or enthusiasm for the day since those are both lacking, but I suspect it has a lot to do with my willingness to drive the car, drop them at the door, stand out of the way with the cart or holding their bags. So, we ventured off together at 6am and I am not sure what time we came home - it felt like it had been an eternity, but I don't think it was really that long. My sister left me at home and went back out shopping again until late in the evening - she is definitely a shopping champ! I am thankful for her dedication though as I think she helped get me pretty close to done with all of my Christmas shopping. :-) Hooray! Life will be great if I don't have to step foot in another store for the remainder of the holiday season. On Saturday we spent some more time with my grandmother and mom while watching the OSU game and then went to see Tangled - a cute Disney movie about Rapunzel. My sister, her husband and my niece and nephew headed home today so it was back to the grind with writing recommendation letters. I am thrilled and relieved to share that I am caught up on all of my letters! I'd love to think that I have written my last one of this college application season, but somehow I suspect that is too good to be true. Now that I have brought you up to date on all of my long-weekend festivities, I hope you will stop by my office and update me on how your holiday weekend played out.

Looking ahead I would like to warn you that I am out of the office all day on Wednesday, December 1st, for a meeting at central office on Credit Flexibility and am out for the last few hours of Friday afternoon for another meeting. And, since I am giving you "warnings" I'm not sure if this counts or not, but my voice is pretty much gone. That may be a good thing for you, but it really isn't for me. :-) I'm not sure if I am trying to fight something off or what the deal is, but my throat is bothering me a little and my voice has been going down the drain... and that is without talking to anyone in an effort to help save it as much as possible. We'll see what tomorrow brings and hope for the best.

A "Black Weekend"

The day after Thanksgiving is known as “Black Friday” for all of the people who plan out their day and shop til they drop, but for high school seniors across the country the entire weekend has been called a “Black Weekend.” NOT because of shopping, but because the push to finish applications is down to the wire so parents are forcing their senior students to spend all weekend working on college applications in an effort to try to get them completed. I keep wondering how many of you are really spending the weekend locked away in your rooms stressed out about trying to finish your college applications. Hopefully with December 1st being Wednesday and the fact that all of your application materials that needed mailed for the December 1st deadline were due several weeks ago, many of you were ahead of the game and didn't end up procrastinating to try to get everything done over the holiday weekend. If a significant part of your holiday weekend has been "black" due to non-stop college application work, I hope you finish soon so you can enjoy the last day of the break.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I wanted to take a moment and wish each of you and your families a Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope that you have a wonderful day and that you are surrounded by family or friends who mean the most to you. And, of course, Thanksgiving wouldn't be Thanksgiving without food - so I hope you are also able to enjoy some of your favorite foods.

My family is all in town so we will be celebrating several times and definitely enjoying a lot of great food. It should be a great day with people I love and I hope you enjoy the same.

As I pause and think about all of the things that I am grateful for this year I wanted to share with you how thankful I am that *you* are in my life and that I have the honor of working with you. I am very blessed to have a job that I love and to be able to work with people such as you on a daily basis.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Career Fair Photo Finale

This is the final set of pictures from the Career Fair. The Worthington SNP Newspaper is supposed to run a story today about the career fair. I don't live in Worthington, but would love to see a copy if the article runs and any of you are able to save one. (Here is a link to the story.)
Clayton Bushey talks with Scott Williams, an Air Traffic Controller for the FAA.

Sue Bobson, a Social Worker and parent of Mark Bobson, talks with students about her job.

Students talk with Dr. Skura, an Orthopedic Surgeon.

Patrick Archambeau talks with representatives from the Columbus Police Department.

Part of the Commons during the career fair - the donuts brought by Tony Cason, Director of Music Ministry (and parent of Andrew Cason) were definitely a hit with students!

More Career Fair Photos

More Career Fair Photo Fun... Ryan Zinn, an Engineer and one of my friends, talks with students. Bonus fact, Ryan is a heart transplant recipient! He received his heart transplant when he was just 15 years old.

Lyn Tolan-Barbin, News Director (and parent of Jimmy Barbin) speaks with students at the career fair.

Josh Cook and a few other students look on as Rob Brown explains his job and experiences working as a Disney Imagineer.

Chad Ellwood attempts to use the machine as explained by Rhonda Lawrence, a Court Reporter.

Stephen Boyles, Beef Extension Specialist (and parent of CW and Addie) talks with students at the career fair.

Pictures from the Career Fair

Here are some more pictures from the career fair...

Jonathan Black speaks with Biao Ding, a Science Professor and Researcher (also Arthur & Adeline Ding's father)

Mark Bobson with Joe Show, radio host from Q FM 96.

Brad Barbin, Attorney, and parent of current WKHS student Jimmy presents at the career fair.

Nick Bortolani and another student talk with Harry Trombitas, Special Agent with the FBI

Jeff Chilcoat, President of Sterling Sports Management, talks with a group of kids.

Hard to believe that tomorrow is the last day of school for the week!

A Huge Thank You!

We survived! For the majority of the fall my personal mantra has been, "Just make it to November 20th, Just make it to November 20th." And we not only made it, but the career fair was a success.

Thank you to everyone who worked tirelessly on the planning committee to help make the event possible. Thank you to all of the students who helped in the days leading up to the event by making reminder calls and putting together materials. Thank you to the students who helped set up the night before the event. Thank you to all of the students who agreed to join us bright and early on Friday morning to help with the event. Thank you to the students who helped clean up after the event. And thank you to every individual who so graciously donated their time, energy, and insight by attending the career fair to represent their chosen profession with the WKHS students!

This entire event was a true team effort and I appreciate everyone's role in making it a success. I have a lot of pictures to share and will continue to share some of them in the days ahead because I know that if I overwhelm this post with pictures everyone's computers will be overloaded. :-) Here are a few that feature students volunteering:

Below: Some of the registration volunteers including Nick Bortolani, Charlie Bassani, and Ali Wright

Above: Josh Lawrence was one of the WKHS men's basketball team members who helped visiting professionals carry their items to their assigned tables.

Career Madness

So, I had grand ideas about what this week would be like on my blog... lots of career related information. I wanted to post interest inventories, facts about careers, useful and not so useful stories about people and their career paths, questions to get you thinking more about careers, teasers about some of the amazing people we have attending the career fair to talk with you on Friday, etc, etc, etc. In my mind it was going to be a great week for blogging updates. Sadly, reality is a far stretch from that.

I am flat out exhausted.

The career fair should be great. Thank you to all of the students who have so graciously donated time and energy to help these past few days so that we are prepared for the next 36 hours (not that I am counting). :-) Thank you also to all of the students who are volunteering to help with set up tomorrow night and Friday morning with assisting our guests. If anyone is still interested in helping out, feel free to stop by school tomorrow any time after school and into the evening. We'll be there until at least 9:30 so you are welcome to stop in and help set up tables. If you want to help Friday morning, meet in the library at 6:45am. :-)

Let's Talk Careers

This Friday is the Career Fair, an event that we have worked very hard to try to plan in order to provide the opportunity for students to interact with a wide variety of professionals from all different career fields. More than likely, this will not be when the lightbulb goes off over your head and you suddenly walk away knowing exactly what you will major on and what your future career will be for the rest of your life. Quite honestly, it isn't that simple. Few people are in the exact jobs they imagined for themselves when they were in high school. Don't believe me, ask around - check with your parents, your teachers and you will even see it reflected in the handouts you will be able to pick up from each professional during the career fair on Friday.

And yes, it even applies to me! When I was graduating from high school I was 100% sure that I would be pursuing a future as a PT/ATC which means a Physical Therapist who is also a Certified Athletic Trainer. By the time I started college that was still my goal, but I was already starting to waver on the physical therapy part of my future as I found out that it would not be possible to complete the physical therapy program at the same time as the athletic training program. I loved athletic training and would never have dreamed (at the time) of giving it up so I changed my major to education and continued with the athletic training. My major was health education, my minor was psychology and my internship was athletic training. Up until the spring of my senior year of college and the start of my student teaching I was still certain that my future would be athletic training. I completed my graduate school applications, went on my interviews and was weighing my options when (during spring break) I realized I didn't really want this to be my entire future. (I know... parents everywhere are thinking "Do not do what she did!" and believe me my own mom had the same thought... actually, I believe her response was something more along the lines of, "If you would have listened to me a long time ago...") I did still go ahead and earn my athletic training certification, something that I was intensely proud of accomplishing even though I never used it in my working career. I loved teaching and working with students so I bailed on all of my previous plans and decided to search for a job in education. As most schools want health teachers who can also teach phys ed (totally NOT me since I lack all eye-hand coordination), finding a job was not easy. I ended up finding a job that I absolutely loved working for a non-profit health organization called Lifeline of Ohio which is an organization that deals with organ and tissue donation. I was there for 7 years and while there my job morphed and changed and my time with students decreased and my time with other special projects increased. I missed working with students and decided to return for my master's degree in school counseling. I left Lifeline of Ohio and worked for a year at Grove City High School as a counselor before being hired at WKHS. And, as some of you know, I am now nearly complete with obtaining my community counseling license to go along with my school license (although I will point out that I have NO intention of leaving WKHS as I love it here)! The point of that whole drawn out story is to show you that there is no way in a million years I could have ever imagined or predicted the way my life would have turned out or the career that I would pursue, but I cannot imagine being happier or more fulfilled in any job.

So, although I am hopeful that each of you will make the most of the time at the career fair and seek information from the wonderful professionals who are so graciously donating their time to talk with all of you, I do not want you to feel the pressure that this is when you should expect to determine what you will be for the rest of your life.

And, in case you don't want to just take my word on it... here are a couple of articles that I really liked and they have similar opinions and lots of good points.

Helping Teenagers Find their Dreams

Choosing a Major, Choosing a Career - Taking the Stress Out

A huge thank you to all of the students who have already agreed to volunteer to help set up for the career fair on Thursday night or to help in some way on Friday morning. I would also like to thank all of the parents who have volunteered to help either at the career fair on Friday, by completing the Career Questionnaire for the Career Resource Handbook or by asking others to help share information and insights into their careers. I appreciate your help very much!

Veterans Day

As you are aware, today was Veterans Day. As I paused to reflect on how much I appreciate the service, dedication and sacrifice so many men and women have given to our country, I couldn't help but think of all of my former students who have served (or are currently serving) in the military.

I'll be honest, there is a part of me that is worried to put up this list because I am scared that I am missing people, but this is the list I could come up with tonight in alphabetical order... Vinnie Aebi, Adam Bardelang, Alex Blake, Josh Burton, Taylor Castelli, Eric Castoe, Austin Clouse, Tom Collier, Drew Cox, Dorothy Dibble, Joda Dotson, Michael Frizzi, and Zach Ellifritz

There are no words to adequately express my gratitude and respect for your courage, strength and dedication to country. Thank you and please, stay safe!

A Basic College Application Checklist

So, it seems that lately in my office a lot of seniors have been worried that they are missing steps related to their college applications. The most accurate and most important response that I can give to you is to look at exactly what the college is asking for and make sure that they have each item requested by the deadline date. (And remember, that means that they actually have the materials in their office - not the date that you bring it to WKHS to have us mail or even the postmark deadline - it is the date that they need to have your entire completed application packet.)

1. Complete your application - generally speaking this will be online.

2. Write your essay. I have mixed emotions if I should list this as #2 because you can't actually complete your application without your essay if one is required, but you probably don't know what the essay questions are unless you have started the application. Some schools will not require an essay while others will require multiple essays. Please plan accordingly because they take a long time to perfect.

3. Complete a yellow Transcript Release form for each school that you are applying. You can find these on the center island area of the Counseling Center. You will turn it in to the secretaries in the counseling center (you do not need to wait to try to see me) along with ALL papers that need to be mailed along with your transcript. There is a $2.00 transcript fee if your transcript must be submitted by hard copy. (Common App and Bowling Green are able to be completed electronically so you do not have the $2.00 fee for those schools.)

Sometimes people ask what are the other papers that might need to be mailed with the transcript. This is one of those pieces that goes back to what the colleges require. Many (most) will have some kind of a college prep/ counselor form that I will need to complete. Although less common, some colleges will have other requests such as a resume, an extra essay, teacher recommendation letters, a picture, etc. If it is to be mailed to the college, then you should include it all in the same packet that is mailed with your transcript and school profile.

Another side note related to the transcript release forms - 10 school days for processing is one of the big points we stress. For those of you with December 1st deadlines, that is tomorrow. At the latest, please make sure your transcript release form with any other supporting materials has been turned in by next Monday! We need time to print your transcript, review it, complete our paperwork, get it mailed and to have it arrive at your college admissions office before the deadline. Please do not procrastinate!

4. Send your test scores - You need to make sure that you have submitted your ACT or SAT test results directly from the testing agency to each college where you are applying. You complete this step directly with the testing companies. If you are not sure if your test was sent, please log on to their site and double check.

5. If your college requires a teacher or counselor recommendation I really hope you have already arranged for someone to write them. Again, you should be giving your recommender at least 30 days notice to write a letter.

6. Double check your entire application, pay your application fee and submit the application.

It truly is not meant to be overly difficult, but it does require a great deal of organization and follow through on your part. With 375 seniors in this year's graduating class it is important to remember that you have to stay on top of things because deadlines are real and you do not want to lose the opportunity to apply to a school or to earn a scholarship just because you had not taken care of all of the details required.

If you have questions, stop by and see me and I will try to help make sure that we are all on the same page regarding what you need to do before your deadlines to complete all of your college applications.

Common Data Set

There are some people who love to get wrapped up in data... and others (like me) who are thankful that someone else can get lost in the data and then tell me what I want/ need to know. However, there are some places that even I appreciate and treasure basic data facts and college admissions data is one of those areas. I used to be able to use the PrepHQ information to give me the majority of the information that I wanted. Obviously not having that data accessible and the resulting frustration has been covered multiple times over. There are still lots of other options for reviewing data and finding useful information about college admissions data. To help make it easier to understand the information nearly all college websites have a feature called "Common Data Set" that will allow you to review their data on admissions, financial aid, and a million other things that might interest you. The easiest way to find this information is to search for common data set on each school's website.

Visiting a Campus

I hope you had a nice weekend. It may seem stupid to many of you, but I love when we set the clocks back an hour and enjoy the "extra" hour of sleep so that was definitely a plus for my weekend - along with a great weekend spending time with my family. Now, it is time to get back to the grind and start looking ahead.

As you look to the coming week, I am sure you are excited that we only have a 4 day week of school. With parent/ teacher conferences on Monday and Thursday evening, Friday is an off day. I hope to be able to make really good use of those extra hours preparing for the career fair. Don't forget, as I mentioned in a previous post, I need volunteers to help on Thursday, November 18th after school any time between 3:30 and 9:30pm and Friday morning, November 19th starting at 6:45am. If you are willing and able to help, please stop by my office to add your name to a time slot.

For those of you who will be using the day off to make a visit to a college campus, I wanted to provide you with some additional information and views on college visits. As I mentioned in this previous post, making visits to a college campus allows students to get an idea of whether or not this campus is a school you can imagine yourself on for the next 4 years of your life. It is a great opportunity to think about what you are looking for in a school and how the college campus and the students/ faculty on the campus fit into your plan.

Don't forget to take a picture on every college campus that you step foot on - even if it is a school you are not seriously considering for your future. We would love to see the pictures, plus, every interaction you have with a college shapes your views on what you are looking for in the future.

Try not to let weather sway you too much on your view of a school - remember, it won't always be the perfectly beautiful, sunny day you might experience during one visit nor will it always be the terribly dreary, rainy day you are forced to endure on another campus visit.

Colleges also know that the qualify of the tour guide you end up with influences your view of their school and they try to manage that accordingly, but if you end up with a guide that is or isn't ideal, try to make your opinion about the school separate from your opinion of the tour guide.

Here are some additional articles that might be helpful to you if you are preparing for college visits:

Don’t Wear One College’s Sweatshirt When Visiting a Rival Campus, and Other Tour Tips

Ask your tour guide about Campus “Traditions”

36 Questions to Ask on a College Visit

College Visits – 8 things you must do

College Visit – 31 things you need to ask

I'm looking forward to seeing you all this week!

December Test Registration

Just a quick, last minute reminder that today is the last day to register (without late fees) for the December ACT and the December SAT. If you were planning on trying to take one of these tests in December, please make sure you get online and complete your registration today!

Report Cards - Again

I heard you didn't actually receive your report cards today. Sorry! That was the "plan" as of last week and I hadn't heard any different so I assumed we were still on target for you to receive them during class today. I did receive an e-mail alerting me to the fact that report cards will go out tomorrow (Friday) during 3rd period. Since I know both students and parents read this blog, I hope I didn't create any problems by my mis-information. Enjoy your weekend!

Report Cards and Reminders

Report cards for 1st quarter will be distributed tomorrow (Thursday) during 3rd period. If you are at the Delaware Area Career Center of have Options during 3rd period you will be able to pick up your report card from the secretary in the Counseling Center tomorrow. Remember, the grades you have now are not the grades that are used to calculate your Grade Point Average. GPA is based upon semester grades. So, no matter what your grades are now, there is still time to bring them up (if that is an issue). Please be sure that you are seeking help from your teachers and the academic assistant's in Room 209 if you are struggling. And I would also like to congratulate all of the students who are off to a strong start! You have no idea how happy it made me to find a note in my box today with a copy of grades pointing out how well a student is doing - I want that for each of you!

A few reminders:

If you are struggling in any of your classes, I strongly encourage you to have your parents set up a parent/ teacher conference for November 8th or November 11th. You can even attend the meeting with them if you are worried about what they might discuss... after all, it is your class and your academic plan they would be discussing. If parents are interested in setting up an appointment to meet with teachers, they can call the Counseling Center at 883-2590 to request meeting times.

Also, don't forget that I will be out of the building for the next two days. I am attending a state-wide counselor's conference so I will be in meetings all day which means I will not be able to access e-mail or voicemail messages until Monday. If you have an emergency, stop in and see another counselor, otherwise just leave me a note or stop in on Monday and we will catch up.

College Application Essays... again

Many seniors are in the middle of working on writing their college application essays. As each student who has gone before you can attest, it is not an easy process. Most of the times high school students are used to writing essays about someone or something else. Focusing on you and what makes you unique can be daunting. I have to be honest, I also find it fascinating. I love seeing what you come up with and how you introduce yourself to the admissions committee through your essay. As I have mentioned before, you need to be sure that you are answering the question, that you are showing (and not just telling), and above everything else, that the reader will learn something about you!

For those of you who might be struggling to come up with essay ideas, the first step is definitely self reflection. I have heard hints to think of the essay as your written interview or as a first date in that you want to tell them the good stuff that makes you special. The more specific you can get in your essay the better off you will be. Generalized claims are simply not as effective. A stronger essay would focus on introducing who you are – what you think, believe, feel, and how you act – through a specific detailed experience. As you work to brainstorm potential topic ideas while also narrowing your topic to something detailed and specific, perhaps these questions will help give you ideas to get you thinking…

- How has this experience changed you?
- Why was this experience meaningful to you?
- How have your experiences shaped your character?
- What is significant to you about being involved in the activities or receiving the honors or awards?
- How have your activities or experiences impacted you personally?
- List 5 key personality traits and how they have helped you in various situations
- What is your personal motto in life? How did you come to this?
- Traits/ Stories/ Examples of “That is so you” moments
- Has any experience changed your perspective or challenged your beliefs?

Once again, remember, it is important to get specific as it is often the small things or experiences in our lives that have a big impact on how we feel, think or act.

As you are probably aware, I spend a lot of time reading college admissions information so that I have the most current information to be able to share with you. Since college essays are a hot topic for seniors all over the country, there have been a lot of recent articles with hints about writing these essays. Below is a list of some of these essays that I thought you might enjoy. Well, at least you would enjoy if you are procrastinating and trying to avoid actually writing your college essays! :-)

Writing the Essay – Sound Advice from an Expert

Some of the More Mundane Moments in Life Make Great Essays

Writing your way into college

Common App Essay Tips

The College Essay as an Early Memoir

Best College Admission Video Essays

Feel Free. Be Yourself. It’s the only Marketing Device that can Work.

What should students NEVER write about in their college essays?

Personal Statement Tip: A Core Concept is Central to Essay Success

Supplemental Essays- Yes They Are Important

A Video on Writing the Essay

Volunteers Needed

Happy Halloween! I hope you all had a safe and fun weekend. Friday night's football victory over Thomas was certainly an exciting way to kick off the weekend. I wanted to share this picture with you of my niece and nephew in their 2010 Halloween costumes. Carly was a "Glamour Girl" and Colton was "Woody from Toy Story." Carly said she would only share one square of a chocolate bar with me (smart girl who loves chocolate), but Cole said he'd share lots of his candy with me. Too cute!

OK, so now to the "real" update...

I need your help! As you are aware, the 2010 WKHS Career Fair will be on Friday, November 19th from 7:30 - 9:15am. This is a huge event and we need help from students to make it possible. We are particularly in need of students to help with setting up the tables and materials for the event on Thursday night (November 18th). We have 2 hour shifts running from 3:30 - 9:30 on Thursday night and we also need help early on Friday morning starting as early as 6:45. I have a sign up sheet in my office, so if you are willing to help, I would appreciate it if you could stop by and sign up as that will allow me to know how many people we can expect to help out. I will also be honest that chances are good I will start begging you to help as you stop by and visit over the next few weeks. (Consider your self warned!) :-)

Tomorrow's Schedule

Tomorrow is the final football game of the season and will have Kilbourne against Thomas. I know that many students are looking forward to the game. For the senior football players, it is probably bitter-sweet as they face their final game in a Kilbourne uniform playing in the stadium under the lights on a Friday night. After the game concludes the Kilbourne fans will return to the WKHS stadium to honor the senior football athletes as they participate in their senior tradition - Senior Tackle. It is a very nice moment for each senior, so it is always nice to watch. To add to the spirit and enthusiasm of the day, the school day will end with a Pep Rally. Good luck Wolves!

Here is tomorrow's schedule:

1st Period: 7:45 - 8:30

2nd Period: 8:35 - 9:20

3rd Period: 9:25 - 10:10

(News: 10:10 - 10:18)

4th Period: 10:23 - 11:08

5th Period: 11:13 - 11:58

6th Period: 12:03 - 12:48

7th Period: 12:53 - 1:38

8th Period: 1:43 - 2:28

Pep Rally Assembly: 2:38 - 3:05

Field Trip Reminder

A reminder to all sophomore students interested in participating in the field trip to the Delaware Area Career Center on Thursday, November 11th. Your permission slips are due back to the secretaries in the Counseling Center tomorrow! I realize that this is 2 weeks before the actual field trip, but the Career Center needs to organize the visits based upon the programs that you want to see and we have to work out all of the details about which bus everyone will be riding since there will be different busses going to the different campuses. If you are even remotely considering applying for admission to the DACC, I strongly encourage you to join us for the field trip! As always, if you have any questions, please stop in and see me!

College Admissions Interview

Some colleges require all prospective students to participate in an interview with an admissions counselor or an alumni representative as a component of the application process. If you are looking at a school which requires an interview – don’t panic!

It is important to relax and be yourself. This is your opportunity to shine. Display your personality and allow your interests and passions to be expressed.

In addition to answering their questions, don’t be afraid to ask any questions you have about the school. Be sure to complete some research ahead of time so that you are not asking questions you easily could have found by visiting their website.

If there is anything about yourself that you want to be sure that the admissions representatives understand – unique circumstances, experiences, or special traits that they might not ask about don’t hesitate to offer up this information. This is your one opportunity to actually discuss these areas with a real person. By bringing up these topics, it may spur them to ask additional questions that you will be able to answer.

And, hopefully it goes without saying, but remember that first impressions are important – so be polite, smile, dress appropriately and arrive on time for your interview!

Here are some additional articles about college interviews that I found that I thought you might appreciate:

Pretend your college interviewer is grandma’s friend

How important is the Admissions Interview?

The Great Comeback of the College Admissions Interview

10 More Essay Writing Tips

I have to admit that I am growing a bit nervous by the lack of essays that I have seen so far this year. Perhaps you are all asking your English teachers and parents to edit your essays (which you should definitely do!) or you feel so confident that you have written a perfect essay that you don't need my input. However, I fear that I haven't seen your essays because you haven't finished your essays. Even more frightening is the fact that some of you probably haven't even started drafting your essays! So, for those of you who are thinking about writing your essays, here are 10 more college essay writing tips:

1. Give yourself plenty of time!

2. Figure out your essay prompt choices and then which one is ideal for you to answer

3. Reflect on yourself! What makes you you? Remember, insignificant things may be significant in setting you apart

4. Draft, Edit, Repeat. (I liked this idea of an “Editing Funnel”)

5. When answer questions asking Why College X: They are looking for fit – what can you bring to their school that will contribute to the college – Needs to ring true – be specific – Relate your experiences with the strengths of that college – picture yourself on campus and explain what you find most appealing – draw on past experiences and highlight how they might carry over to your college contributions

6. Consider the essay to be your written interview

7. Be specific and vivid – provide details to help the reader engage in the story

8. It’s about you, but be careful not to overuse the word “I”

9. Remember, Leadership = Responsibility + Followers

10. Use vivid verbs – see this article for some great examples

I also wanted to let you know that I am in a district-wide meeting all day tomorrow so I will not be in the building. Please plan to stop in and see me on Wednesday if you need anything. And, for those of you who might be advance planners, I can also share with you that I will not be in the building next week on Thursday or Friday as I was selected to present at a state counselor conference.

Parent/ Teacher Conferences

Parent Teacher Conferences will be held on Monday, November 8th, and Thursday, November 11th. Conferences begin at 5:30pm and run every 20 minutes with the last conferences beginning at 8:30pm. All conferences with teachers are scheduled through the secretaries in the Counseling Center. Appointments can be scheduled beginning tomorrow morning by calling 883-2590. This is a great opportunity for parents to be able to meet with teachers.

Hope you have a great weekend! Good luck to all of you who will be taking the ACT tomorrow morning!