When beginning my high school journey, I did not think seriously enough about my future. I had that gut feeling that I wanted to do something meaningful with my life.
My Grade 12 year is upon me now and it is only now that I see how unprepared I am. Post-secondary preparation takes more planning than filling out papers for graduation.
When you begin to think about university or college, not only are you considering what you want to study, but also thinking about your entire career choice. What do you want to major in? Will that degree help you get the career you want?
As students we are all learning about where we can go in life, and if we all set goals to achieve, there would be more success in everyone’s future. All of it takes a great deal of concentration, as well as preparation.
Another concern is how much it will cost you. Financial aid may be there for students who apply for it, but groups giving the aid are always going to look for the students that impress. This means they look at your grade point average to see if you stand out in any particular subjects or have good sports performance. What the financial aid boards look for are students who show that they want to go somewhere.
I will admit I did not focus enough in the beginning. There were classes I was naturally good at, but I never tried like I really wanted it. Now I face my last year of school, paying the penalty with my brain on overload, working 100 per cent to catch my grades up.
My goal is to reach a high GPA. What I want is success and to be a student that the financial aid boards look at, someone that a university wants to have in their midst.
The sudden commitment I give to my studies every day is very stressful, frightening and intimidating, because I know one slip-up could cost the future that I strive for now.
Confidence and motivation are the best attributes a graduating student can have; with them comes more success. And if you have motivation to keep trying harder, you will see more results than someone who just wants to breeze by. Some people do not take a moment to think about what they want to do after school ends, then once they leave they’re left with few options.
If students started to prepare themselves earlier on, they would have better chances of being on the ball during their Grade 12 year. I can only hope that other Belmont High graduates move on to attend college or university, so they have the chance to set down a good path. It is not certain whether changes like that could happen, but for myself, I know that I will go where I want if I keep working toward it.
Breanna Ennis is a student at Belmont secondary.