Humans Of IHS

Finally, senior year! High school is coming to a close, everything we’ve known for the past 4 years is ending, and everyone is starting over come next fall. I decided to talk to five seniors about just how much their lives are going to change in the upcoming year and how they’re feeling about leaving everything they know behind.

Do you know what you want to study next year and if so, where are you going?: Lia Moylan

“I’m going to Wheaton College in Norton, Massachusetts and I hope to study psychology. I applied early decision. I picked Wheaton because it’s a small campus, which is something I like and I just really saw myself being able to live there for four years with really no concerns. I feel pretty safe on the campus.”

“I work at the YMCA summer camp and I like working with the kids and seeing them grow and develop differently and mentally, so it made me want to study psychology. When I graduate I hope to run my own practice. My parents are very supportive of my decision and I can’t wait until fall comes around so I can start my next chapter.”

What are some of your worries going into college next year?: Julia Kennedy

“I’m worried about leaving home because I’ve lived in my house my whole life, and I’m afraid to leave my family and my parents because my parents do a lot more for me than I think I realize… like laundry. I don’t know how to do my own laundry. Gotta figure that one out before college. I’m also worried about meeting new friends. It took me long enough to meet the friends that I already have. I hate putting myself out there, and I often feel like everyone’s judging me, even though everyone’s in the same boat. Another huge concern is the food. I’ve heard college food can be kind of rough depending on where you go, and food is very crucial to me. I’m worried about dorms and sharing a room with strangers. I don’t know how its going to work, what if they’re total slobs? I just don’t know. Then I’m also worried about the workload. Everyone says college is so much harder than high school, and I thought high school was pretty hard… so I’m kind of screwed when it comes to college. But really, I’m so excited for college though even though I have all of these worries. I’m ready to move on, and further my education, and meet new people no matter how scary it is.”

Do your parents agree with your anticipated path in college, and what are your thoughts of how higher education is priced in the United States?: Jonah Fouser

“Yes, they do. I’m going to UMass Dartmouth to major in environmental science and minoring in sustainability. I’m probably going to graduate with no debt, mostly because I’m white and so I have a lot of white privilege and also the fact that I have a lot rich family members, so I have a big college fund. So since I’m going the ‘cheap path’ (state school), I’m probably going to get out of college with no debt what so ever. But that’s only me. A lot of people don’t have many rich relatives. A lot of people in the poor communities, especially ones who don’t have white privilege have a harder time paying for college and because the majority of their background, a lot of people don’t go to college, they don’t see themselves going to college. But it’s tough. And I think that we should make more steps in trying to make college more affordable. Hillary Clinton is actually trying to make college cheaper as well, not only Bernie Sanders. She’s trying to make the interest of college loans lower. Right now its at between 7-9%…. which is a lot.”

Is your plan for next year being supported? What is it?: Luke Swetland

“My parents totally agree with me going where I want to go, but it’s just too expensive. At the school, I would like to study international affairs and global development because I’ve always just had a passion for other cultures and people, and people who are different from me. Growing up in a very non multicultural area of America, I’ve found that people from different areas of the world are just so much more fascinating. The reason I want to do a Christian ministries minor is just to tie into my religion and my faith and have a good backing and just learn more about what I believe, why I believe it, and to challenge myself in what I believe.”

Do your parents agree with your anticipated path?: Kendall Trepanier 

“My parents want me to go to college and everything, but aren’t too happy about the fact that I want to go away for college. My mom doesn’t really agree with that because she doesn’t want me to pay for housing at school. Also, I want to be a criminal justice major and my parents think that in the long run I might not want to be a police officer and I might want to change my major so they don’t want me to spend the money to go somewhere where I’m not really positive what I want to do… which I am positive, they just have their doubts that I’m not. I mean they want me to get a good education, and North Shore is a good school so that’s where they want me to end up. I don’t know yet. I’m still thinking about it and figuring out what I’m going to be doing, but just the fact that my parents don’t really agree with what I want to do is kind of frustrating. But I know they just want the best for me so I can’t really complain. All of my four older sisters went to North Shore and one of them is currently there. She’s changed her major two times already and now she’s going back to her original major so she had to miss a semester. My mom doesn’t want that to happen to me because she wants me to get my education in the shortest amount of time that I can. Now my sister has to do another semester in school, so she just wants me to finish college and get on my feet.”