As the end of the school year approaches, juniors at Arrowhead are thinking about their futures. Students are attending college fairs and college visits in order to set up their lives after high school.

Arrowhead arranges for every junior student to have a junior conference with their guidance counselor during one of their study halls or their lunch period.

At their conference, students are accompanied by their parent or guardian to discuss their plans after high school, and if they are on the right track to achieve their future goals. Guidance counselors discuss the student’s transcript and class load, as well as any colleges they might recommend for that student.

Junior Martha Kobiske says, “I think the junior conference is really useful. I hadn’t known what other classes I needed in order to meet graduation requirements, so my counselor helped me figure that out. It’s kind of relieving because now I have a much better idea of what my senior year will be like.”

Other students are still floundering and struggling to create a path that they want to follow after high school.

An junior student who wanted to remain anonymous says, “The junior conference helped me figure out my GPA and credits, but I still have no idea what I’m doing. I don’t really know what I want to do career wise, and my conference didn’t help me figure that out.”

This anonymous student says he isn’t too worried because both of his parents went into college without knowing their majors. He says he knows what skills he has, and will try to find his desired career path from there.

“I went to the college fair that was at Arrowhead,” says the anonymous student. “Even if I don’t know what I want to do, at least I have somewhat of an idea about where I want to go to college.”

Kobiske says she didn’t attend the college fair that Arrowhead hosted, nor the one held in Milwaukee and she doesn’t plan to attend any others. All the information she needs is online, Kobiske says. She and her mother have researched colleges in Wisconsin and Minnesota that have good marketing or psychology programs that she is interested in attending.

Though neither Kobiske nor the anonymous student have visited any colleges, they plan on scheduling visits to a handful of colleges they are interested in. While Kobiske is looking at colleges in Minnesota or Wisconsin, the anonymous student plans on staying in-state after high school.

College visits can be set up online. If a student wishes to schedule a visit, they should visit that college’s website, where they can find tour dates and sign up for the day that works best for them.

The anonymous student says, “College visits are a huge factor for me when I’m choosing where I want to go. If I don’t visit, I can’t envision myself there properly, and I have no idea if I’d be comfortable living there for four years of my life. Choosing a college is such a huge deal that I couldn’t imagine not seeing what campus is like first.”

Kobiske says she is very excited for her college visits, and she is planning on setting up a date to see the University of Wisconsin-Madison. It’s a school Kobiske says she has been interested in for a long time, and she can’t wait to survey the campus and get a feel for what college life will be like.

“It’s so important to get invested in your future,” says Kobiske. “I think college will be so much better than high school, and I’m excited for it. This is gonna be the next four years of our lives after high school. It sets up our careers. It’s important to put a lot of thought into the decision, but also make sure you do what you love.”