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A Graduate’s Guide to Finding Success After High School
Description
The road to success after high school can look very different for individual students, depending on their goals and aspirations. On this episode of the Supercast, school counselors talk about the most important things parents and teens need to be doing now before graduates leave the nest to face a new world on their own. We share advice for college-bound students and others pursuing future careers, especially during a pandemic.
Audio Transcription
Superintendent:
Welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. It's that time of year when seniors are graduating from high school and hitting the road to find future success. It's often an anxious time for parents who wonder if their teens are prepared for the road ahead, especially during a pandemic. Today, we're joined by two school counselors. Secondary Counseling Specialist, Stacee Worthen and Herriman High School Counselor, Jeffrey Cox are here to tell us what parents and students should be doing now as their post high school journey begins. This is an extraordinary circumstance we find ourselves in with the school closure, and we're just looking for some advice and ideas for parents on how to prepare students for that next step. And it's an extraordinary circumstance, like I said, because kids went to school one day and that night found out they weren't coming back and their next school experience is going to be college. So it's a big leap and I'm excited to have you both here. Thanks for joining us.
Counselors:
Thank you.
Superintendent:
So Stacee, start off and tell us a little bit, what should parents and seniors be thinking about now, if college is the next step for them? And of course there are lots of great next steps, but if college is the next step, what should they be thinking about and planning for right now?
Stacee:
So right now parents and students should be planning and working with their college advisor. They should already be working to build their schedule for fall. They also are probably on hold because they have to complete an orientation process. Now with this new situation, our new reality, that orientation is going to look different. So they need to make sure that they're in contact with their college advisor so that they understand that new admission process so that their classes are taken off hold because they've completed their orientation and they should also be finalizing their FAFSA, making sure that they have completed the FAFSA, that the FAFSA has sent information to their school that they're attending. Double-check financial aid with their financial aid advisor to make sure that everything is ready to go, that they understand whether or not they want to accept their student loans or their Pell Grants. Making sure that that whole process has been completed properly. And then housing, they need to consider housing. Where are they going to live? Have they already figured that out? Have they put their deposits down, just making sure that everything is finalized and that they're making sure they're checking those boxes to make their transition to university or college smoother.
Superintendent:
If someone is behind, everyone has had a big impact on their lives from school dismissal. Lots of family circumstances have changed. Let's say that someone was hoping to go to college in the fall, but didn't get things taken care of yet. They haven't applied. Is there still a chance for them to make that happen?
Stacee:
Of course. I mean, the biggest thing is if you haven't done anything yet, make sure you start today. Maybe your hope was to go to a big university. That was one of your dreams that maybe that maybe not is the reality. Now, you know, you can always go to an amazing school like SLCC or Snow College, or the schools kind of have more of the open enrollments to grade there. And then when the tim