Essay Workshop

For most students, writing your college essay is one of the most stressful aspects of the college application process.  In order to try to help better prepare juniors the counselors will be hosting a workshop about selecting a topic for writing your college essay.

The Essay Brainstorming Workshop Session will take place one week from today, on Wednesday, April 17th, from 10:00am - 11:30am in Room 207.

We are really excited to be able to offer this workshop during the late-start time when younger students will be taking their End of Course exams.  This workshop is just for junior students (and not parents) as it is the student's essay and your voice is what admissions officers want to hear!  This session is optional and is ideal for those students who will be applying to a 4-year college.  (Those who will be starting at a 2 year program like Columbus State will not have to write an essay so you will not need the information covered in this session.)

So that we can plan for how many students to expect, we ask that you please RSVP using this link.

Believe me, the essays are such a critical part of the application process that this won't be the only time I talk about them on my blog, but it is also a fun and creative opportunity to introduce yourself to the admissions officers and so it is worth the time you will put into making it a great essay.  I hope you will give up a little bit of your sleeping in time and join us for the workshop!

Parent Lunch & Learn

On Friday we will host another Lunch & Learn for parents.  This month's topic is understanding the Kilbourne Grade Point Average (GPA).  What all counts in the GPA, what is weighted and what is not, how much the weights are, and how students can work to improve their GPA is all a part of our planned conversation for Friday.

As usual, the Lunch and Learns are quick, 30-minute zoom meetings over 1 specific topic to educate parents and to answer your questions on a particular topic.  Because the meetings are virtual from 12-12:30pm, parents are invited to grab your lunch and listen in on the presentation.  Zoom links are emailed out on Friday morning ahead of the session and the link is also posted on the Kilbourne Counselor website.  

I hope you will join us on Friday, April 12th, at noon!

Eclipse

Today was a cool day... obviously it was nice to have a 3 day weekend and, I will be honest, I wasn't sure how exciting the eclipse would be this afternoon.  But I was genuinely amazed!  It exceeded even my best hopes for what it would seem like.

I have been thinking a lot about why the eclipse today is standing out to me as such a significant event.  Yes, of course it was cool to see it get so dark out in the middle of a beautiful, sunny day.  Yes, it is interesting to think of the science and how small we are as you witness the moon making it's way across the sun.  But I think it is more than that.

Today, millions of people across the United States all stopped in what they were doing to look at the sky.  We jointly paused in what we were doing, in the busy rush of our days, to simply observe.  And so often when we are watching things in nature that are beyond our control we are doing so because it is something bad or scary - like when there are tornado warnings or hurricanes and we are all watching and preparing for something terrible.  But this was a reminder that things beyond our control in nature can be good too. In my neighborhood, spontaneous cheers erupted for the 2 minutes and 15 seconds of totality.   And then the moon kept moving and the daylight returned and I was left wondering how people had such amazing photos while I had just been sitting there in awe of it all.

My take away from today is that I am thankful for moments that we can all pause for something good and appreciate the beauty in the world around us.  The eclipse represented that for me.  I hope you have some good memories from today too and I look forward to hearing about it all this week.

CSCC App Day

Are you planning on attending Columbus State Community College next year after you graduate? This is a great option for a lot of students because it allows students to transition from the high school to college expectations in typically smaller classes and for a fraction of the cost. 

Students attending CSCC have much later deadlines for admission and so it can be easy to procrastinate on completing the application.  Next Thursday, in the Conference Room off the Counseling Center (Room 120), we will be hosting the admissions representative from Columbus State Community College for an Application Day.  Seniors, if you have not already applied to CSCC and want to have it as an option for you in the future, please take advange of this application day!  Students can come during lunch periods and should bring their Social Security Number so that your entire application can be completed on the spot.  

For students who are already technically CSCC students because of participating in College Credit Plus, you don't have to submit an application to attend full time next year, but there are steps that need to be completed and the admissions rep will be able to assist you with completing those requirements as well.

Even if you're not sure you're ready to go to CSCC right away or if you are still holding it as an option for financial reasons as you try to make your decision about college, you can also come and participate in the Columbus State Community College Application Day.  

Feel free to stop and see me if you have any questions.

Online Summer School

We always get questions about taking online courses or classes in other districts during the summers and as long as it is an accredited school this is completely fine.  So, for example, if your parents are divorced and you go to spend the summer with a parent who lives in another state you can take your summer school class at the school near your other parent and then transfer the credit back to us.  Or for those students who plan on traveling a great deal over the summer, taking an online course might be more in line with your needs.  Again, in Worthington we try to be very flexible in helping all students to meet their academic goals so as long as the school you are taking classes from is an accredited school, we will transfer those credits to Worthington.

Students and parents often ask me which online schools they can use and again, if it is accredited it is fine.  The school we have had the most students utilize in the past has been TRECA due to the cost effectiveness of their credits.  But again, that can change from year to year and so I encourage you to search for the schools and programs that will best meet your individual needs.  I do know that as of today TRECA summer school registration has opened so if you were planning to take a TRECA summer school class, please be sure to get signed up for that soon too.  Their website is: https://treca.org/programs/summer-school 

Advisory Council

Last spring the WKHS Counselors wanted to start an Advisory Council to bring together parents, teachers, students and administration to help provide us with insights, feedback, and guidance on the counseling program that we put into practice every day.  Since we value the input from ALL stakeholders, we tried to get a representative mix of voices to represent different grade levels, backgrounds, feeder schools, etc.  And, because we get to talk to administrators, teachers and students every day, we made sure to have the bulk of the advisory council consist of parents/ guardians.

Having never implemented an advisory council in our building, we were honestly nervous about how it would go and what input they would share with us.  But I have to tell you that it was INCREDIBLE!  It was helpful to hear varying perspectives, to get ideas and feedback, and to be able to be challenged with new ways of how we can try to approach best meeting the needs of every student.

Throughout the year, we had 18 advisory council members volunteer their time to attend 4 meetings.  The Kilbourne counselors are so grateful to each individual who so generously agreed to join us in this endeavor!  Some of the advisory council members are pictured above, but below is the complete list of our incredible Advisory Council:

Parents/ Guardians: Stoyna Arnaudova, Dan Beck, Rebecca Billingslea, Alison Heller, Vikki James, Rick Kellner, Mandy McGlone, Stacy Niemantsverdriet, Angela Pope, Jennifer Shaw, and Elizabeth Woodyard

Students: EJ Adams, Esther Ferreira Alves, and Ranim Pharra

Teachers: Ben Berens, John Jordan, and Yo Smith

Administrator: Josh Almanson

Thank you to all of the 2023-2024 Advisory Council members for helping serve us this year!

College Rejections

Throughout spring break I received dozens of emails from various colleges sharing updates on when they will be releasing their decisions and how competitive their classes are this year.  Statements like, "we had 6% more students apply than in the past for the same number of slots" are feeling common with each email I open.  I don't have any magical answers for why one student gets accepted and another seemingly comparable student does not.  And it makes me sad to think that there are students who are receiving notifications that you have not been accepted who would, unquestionably, be highly successful at each of these colleges.  But, sadly, that is part of the college admissions "game."  

And, yes, I know that when it is your dream college, none of it feels like a game, but I really want for you to try to think of it more in that regard because even the college may know that you would have been a great candidate with a lot to offer to their college, but it is all a part of the process.  I can tell you that I did not have a single student apply to colleges where I could not see you being successful.  And I believe, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that if you were to be accepted and attend that college that you would have been successful there!  BUT, I also believe that no matter where you attend college that you WILL be a success!  It is NOT the college that would make you successful, but rather it is your work ethic, your drive, your intelligence, your commitment, and the contributions you will make on whatever campus is lucky enough to have you joining their college which will make all the difference.

Try to remind yourself that not everyone will be accepted and that it is not a reflection of your potential for lifelong success.  Don't believe me?  I did a google search to look for a few articles to showcase some successful people who were also rejected to their top choice colleges.  I am confident you will recognize many of their names.

7 famous people who were rejected by their dream colleges

Before they were titans, moguls, and newsmakers, these people were… rejected

15 celebrities who didn’t get into their dream colleges

If you are dealing with the frustration and disappointment of not being accepted, remember that it is ok to be sad just please be sure to reach out and talk about how you are feeling with your family members and/ or with me!  I don't want anyone to ever believe that this one college decision is a reflection of your value because there are plenty of other great schools that will be thrilled to have you as a member of their incoming class.  Eventually, after you have had the time to process through your disappointment, you will then be able to refocus on making the most of the opportunities available to you.  Believe in yourself and know that the college where you ultimately attend will be lucky to have you as a member of their incoming class.