As the end of the year approaches, many students get excited and start planning for the summer or for the following year; but for seniors they have a different outlook. The end of the year can be very stressful.

They have many things to consider as the end of the year approaches. In order to walk at graduation, seniors have to have all of their credit requirements fulfilled, they have to have ordered their cap and gown, and they have had to have passed the California High School Exit Exam or CAHSEE.

            Some seniors, like Margarita Hernandez, are ready for the end to come. She said she has planned for everything and has it all in order. “I’m not nervous for graduation. I have all my requirements and have ordered my gown,” she said.

            The other view that most seniors take is one of anxiety and nerves. Leo Shippley said he is both excited and nervous.

“It’s exciting because it’s the next stop in life, but it is also a little nerve racking,” he said. When asked what he had to do to get ready, he said, “You have to get your college applications in and your scholarship applications filled out.”

Shippley says that although it’s “stressful” it’s by far the “easiest” year that he has had.

            But the end of the year is not always about just graduation, it is also about getting accepted into a college. Shippley says that he plans on going to Arizona State while Hernandez plans on attending University of California, Berkeley. Colleges look at grade point average and at scores on the ACT and the SAT. After high school, a graduate does not have to attend a four year school as Hernandez and Shippley are doing; one can also attend a two-year college such as Gavilan College. A graduate can also opt for trade school, or one can go straight into the workforce.

            Senior Julie Phillips expressed how a junior college is a great choice.

 “I haven’t really decided what I want to do or be yet so this gives me some time to think while taking my basic classes and then I can transfer to a UC,” she said.

            Whether college, trade school, or work awaits them, most seniors are thinking ahead. The end of the year can be a time of great anticipation, but for seniors it is a time of great planning and decision-making.