College acceptance letters keeping students nervous

DOWNEY - With senioritis kicking in and only a couple months left until graduation, seniors are anxiously awaiting college acceptance letters.Twelve years of hard work and commitment were finally submitted in applications late December and early January for most students. Seniors are now focused on hearing from the colleges of their choice, keeping grades up, studying for AP exams, and completing scholarships. The unrest and eagerness only build as seniors are inches away from a new chapter in their lives. "I'm excited for next year because I'm going to Cal Poly Pomona as a mechanical engineer major," said senior Nigel Adashefski. "I'm looking forward to it because I am going to be independent from my parents and can invest in my education." "I want to major in biomedical engineering so I can get a hands on approach to building prosthetics and other medical devices so that I can become an orthopedic surgeon," said senior Luis Herrera who was admitted into John Hopkin, Berkeley, Cornell and USC. Many seniors already know what career choice they are going to take, but for others, college is the chance to try out different things. "I know I want to do something in business but I feel like I am too young to know exactly what career I want to dedicate myself to. There are many careers that majors offer and I want to learn about each one before I make my decision," said Paulina Torres. "I got into UCLA, Berkeley, NYU, Boston College, and University of Washington," said Heather Adamson who is still awaiting on admissions from Yale, Columbia, and Dartmouth. "I don't know where I'm going to school yet but it depends on the money. My dream is to go somewhere far away to experience the culture other than the west coast." For Denise Gutierrez, UCLA was her first choice ever since she moved from Texas to California. "My junior year… I visited the campus with my school in Apple Valley. In the quad, there was a student in a banana suit dancing and jumping around and I happened to be wearing my favorite Andy Warhol banana purse. It was love at first sight." "I think attending three high schools and dealing with my parents' divorce my junior year helped me relax when it came to the college process. Moving to a new high school, in a different state, in the middle of the second semester of your junior year, and then another brand new high school in a different city for your senior year makes college applications not so intimidating," added Gutierrez. "It hasn't hit me yet that this year is going to be my last," said senior Karen De LosAngeles. "College is going to be awesome," said Frank Martinez.

********** Published: March 31, 2011 - Volume 9 - Issue 50