Arrowhead High School finishes first quarter on November 2nd, 2018. It has been nine weeks since school began. Students reflect on the previous weeks and say how they are getting prepared for college already.

“It was good. I had a lot of work to do. Being a senior is fun and all, but it is way harder than I thought. I think I challenged myself pretty well and I have decent grades. I’ve already started applying to colleges. Well, one and a half. I applied to Tampa and Green Bay. I’m kind of anxious. I don’t know. But I’m more nervous for college than I am excited. Even though it’s the first quarter, I already have senioritis,” says Cole Treml, an Arrowhead senior.

“My first quarter as a senior has been full of surprises. I’m taking a lot of classes, like Anatomy, that I didn’t think would be very hard, but it turns out that I spend a lot of time studying for [Michael] Hall’s quizzes,” says senior Abby Fritz.

Abby says she has had a lot of fun classes, but at the same time they are challenging and keep her engaged.

“I tend to have a lot of homework, especially Math, Spanish IV, and Anatomy, but I feel like I’m learning something this year,” says Fritz.

“I like school. Learning is fun. This quarter went pretty well for me. I have a 3.0 GPA right now so I’m really pumped about that. Hopefully I can keep it up. But honestly, I know that it’s just going to get harder and harder from here. So fingers crossed,” says Ben Skorik, a senior at Arrowhead.

Second quarter will last nine weeks, and ends on January 14. This is when the second semester will begin as well.

“First quarter went by really fast for me. I didn’t expect it to go so fast. I didn’t even know that this quarter ended this Friday until we came back from back on Monday. It took me by surprise. That means that we’re one fourth of the way done with school,” says senior Giovanni Gambatese.

Gambatese also says that he hasn’t applied for colleges yet and that he will as soon as he retakes the ACT.

Retaking the ACT is an option that many seniors take when thinking about colleges. Retake dates are set throughout the school year every few months. An option juniors can take to prepare for their ACT is to visit the Arrowhead website’s ACT Prep page. Students can also find helpful books for studying for the ACT in the library at north campus. The required testing date for juniors is February 20, 2019.

“I retook the ACT. I think it went a lot better than before. When I got my ACT score back from the first time, I wasn’t happy with it so I retook it,” says senior, Connor Zastrow.

“I am ready to graduate. This year is not going by fast enough for me. I’m just so done with this year. I’m ready for college and moving out and growing up, the whole thing. I can’t wait really,” says senior Jordan Bashaw.

“I have a steady paying job and I already pay my own bills. Like my phone bills and stuff. I’m already planning on moving out as soon as I graduate. I don’t know if I’m going to college yet. Haven’t really made up my mind. But I think as long as I have a good job, and a flowing, steady, and stable income I’m fine, right?” says senior, Marivelyz Caldero.

Senior Kelly Seibert says this first quarter flew by for her, and that while a part of her wants to grow up and get on with her life, another part of her wants to stay in this part of her life. She says she knows she will look back and miss being 17, and she doesn’t want to take her high school years for granted.

“I plan on staying at home for maybe the first year or so after college. I’ll probably start with a two-year college for my General Education, and then transfer to a four-year for my major, since that’s cheaper. It’s scary to think that I have to grow up and start taking care of everything from rent and phone bills to groceries and even simple stuff like paper towels. I think a lot of people don’t realize what being an adult really is. It’s a lot more than living by yourself and getting a job,” says Seibert.

“I know the question was how was first quarter going, but I can’t stop thinking about colleges. I mean, everytime I talk to someone it’s always ‘So where are you going to college?’ College this, college that. It’s kind of annoying and really stressing me out. Everybody says that senior year is really easy and that you don’t do anything, but I just finished writing my college essay and finished up my senior profile. I didn’t think that this much work had to go into applying to colleges. I’m trying to apply to Carroll, Whitewater, Madison, Marquette, UW Milwaukee, UW Waukesha, and WCTC. I have a really wide range for where I want to go and what my second and third and fourth choices are and stuff,” says senior, Michael Smith.

“Good, I guess,” says junior, Kendall Pingar.

Fritz and Skorik are getting together to study for finals. “It’s always good to be prepared and know what you’re doing in class. Even though it’s a bit away, I still like to study as much as I can,” says Fritz.

“Oh I didn’t know it was a study date, I thought we were just going to get coffee,” says Skorik when asked about what he will study for with Fritz.

“In my creative writing class, we have extra credit that we can do. I think that it would be helpful to some students to do before the quarter ends,” says Fritz.

Students can check with their teachers and look online if teachers allow extra credit before the quarter ends.