Deciding which parking spot to park in, what toppings to get at YoMama!, or which new Netflix shows to start binge watching on are all everyday choices that we make. We consider them to be simple, harmless, and leisurely choices. Our day is filled with such small and insignificant decisions, and, to an extent, we enjoy making them. However, high school seniors face the toughest decision of their lives yet: what college they will attend. It’s that time of year again; after thirteen years of education, seniors must choose their future school. For all seniors, it is the most critical and life changing thing they have done yet. It is the first step they take as independent and young adults.

Senior Alex Yavnilovitch summarized this struggle perfectly in her own experience. “It was very difficult for me to decide between 2 universities, and the longer I thought about it, the more difficult it became.” This seems to hold true for many seniors. ¨This is a huge step, and it’s very exciting — living on your own and starting to build your future,¨ stated Yavnilovitch. There are of course a multitude of factors that greatly impact this decision. Senior Michael Fung could not have stated this better, “We have to take a lot of things into consideration, like money, school size, money, credits, money, social life, and money”. As Fung emphasized, tuition, or ¨money¨ is the most crucial factor and the least favorite part of making this decision. Senior Anna Barry adds that “College tuition is the main issue. Finding out what is the best deal and how to make it work is really important.”

When asked about the application process, Barry stated that the hardest part was writing the ideal essay. “Personally, writing comes easy to me, and most essays were about a major obstacle in life that you must overcome.” She advises, “If you go through something hard in your life that you don’t tell people about, then use that in your essays since that makes you a stronger person. It felt good to write about and share my hidden obstacles in my essays. Pour your heart into it and it´ll become something that makes you better.” Fung answers the same question with a bit of humor, “It was a lot of work. I’m not very good at that kind of a thing.”

As seniors at Brookfield Central and across the nation make this life changing choice, these three students have some words of wisdom to share to incoming seniors and underclassmen. Yavnilovitch says, ¨I would suggest not to procrastinate on your application (pretty obvious, but still). It’s a pretty major decision, and it should be your top priority in the beginning of the year.” Many seniors would agree with statement in that senior year revolves around college applications and writing the essays. Putting this off would be detrimental to one’s sanity.

Anna Barry suggests that when visiting colleges, avoid the concrete scheduled tours and go off on your own tangent to explore the real atmosphere. She adds that talking to prospective professors and exploring different opportunities at the university will make you love the school more. Michael Fung urges people to do themselves a favor and ¨research, find scholarships, apply as soon as possible, and get help where you can.”