Student Life : Plans after School – Mendocino High Schools' Inside Voice

“What am I going to do after high school?” is a question everyone at some point has asked themselves. This question can be very hard to many, whether they don’t know if they want to go to college, if they are even able to go, or if they just want to be done with school and get working right after high school. Recently, it has been more and more normalized and pushed to go to college. In 2016, out of the 3.1 million people that graduated high school, 2.2 million of them enrolled into college; that’s nearly 70% of all high school graduating students. Going to school in Mendocino is much different than other cities. Mendocino focuses more on, as Misha Kopelman would say, “pushing and expanding yourself,” helping “people become better people and students.” After interviewing three senior journalism students, asking them what their plans after high school were, they all had the similar ideas and reasoning’s for what they wanted. Here were the results of the interviews.

The first interview that was done was with Henry Thomas. He plans on going to college, although, he wasn’t sure at the time which one. Henry decided he wanted to go to college because he wanted to further his education. He felt as though it was the natural thing to do. He didn’t have a passion that he would rather pursue instead of going to college. He knows that by pushing himself to go to college, it’s going to help him in the long run. Unlike some, Henry was not pressured into this college future. He chose to go to college himself to better his future, but even if he was not to go, it would not have been a “bad thing.” Henry has a very positive mindset and is happy with the decision that he chose to go to college, and he would’ve been happy with any decision he made because he had the choice to do what he wants. Another question asked was “Did growing up in this isolated bubble of a town in your mind hold you back what so ever?” Henry replied, “Not necessarily holding me back, but classes provided here such as Marshall’s broadcasting classes, and math classes are one of the big reasons I chose my majors. So, it’s because of the classes Mendocino provided, not necessarily the town itself.” Finally, when Henry starts going to college, he plans on being a full time student for his first year so he can focus on school work. As for the following years, he does plan on working.

Our second interviewee, Chance Deluc,a wasn’t 100% sure what he was going to do because he has only been waitlisted into colleges. He does want to go to college, but if it falls through, he has a plan B. He doesn’t want to a year off because he doesn’t want to “dull” his knowledge. Chance says, “I want to go to college because I want to keep my thought process going.” His choice of going to college was his own; he was not pressured by his parents to go to college. When Chance was asked if he is happy with the decision he made, he replied, “Happy isn’t the word I’d use to continue school, but it’s exciting.” He believes it is going to be a positive and enlightening experience if he is to go to college next year. He is nervous, not necessarily about the new college life he would live, but more of whether he is going to college next year or be forced to take a year off. Chance enjoys living in Mendocino but regarding college, Chance says, “the open-armed Mendocino way makes the student feel less motivated to push harder for it because in Mendocino you can just relax and do whatever you want, unlike college where you’re forced to motivate yourself.” Finally, Chance is most likely not going to work when he is in college, so he can focus on school to enhance his knowledge. Although, if he does not attend college next year, he does plan to work for the year he has off and apply again next year.

Finally, we have Misha. He is going to go to college next year, and wanted to apply as undeclared, but for certain schools in which he had to declare a major, he chose Journalism. Misha has a few options on which college he wants to go to, but he is not quite sure. He chose to go to college because he feels like it is a paved path for a reason; he feels like nowadays he has to go or he would regret it. Misha was not pressured into going to college; he made the decision on his own, and he felt like it was a good choice and that he would have a good time being able to take the classes he wants and make new friends. Misha is not nervous about going to college next year. After asking Misha if he thinks growing Mendocino had any influence on his decisions for last year, he responded with “Growing up in Mendocino is a unique experience.” He feels that although Mendocino isn’t the most academically challenging high school, it allowed him to push himself in unique and expanding ways that helped him become a better person and student, which would benefit him in college. Misha plans on working while in college to help alleviate any student debt that he has.

All three of the Journalism students that were interviewed planned on going to college next year with two of them planning to be full time students at least for the first year. This is similar to the global average in 2015, which was around 43%. Only one of the students interviewed said he thinks that Mendocino is going to have a negative experience on his college experience. Finally, all three of the students are happy with their choices and none of them were pressured into making this decision.