Recent graduates adjust to post secondary life in the shadow of pandemic-triggered virtual learning
Students are told throughout high school that by graduation they will be college, career, and community ready. But, when it comes to college, the experience can be totally different for everyone, so it's hard to be 100% ready, especially given the circumstances of 2020. West alumni spoke on their experiences both after graduation and their current college status.
Callie Shwerin, freshman at Marian University, found her path in an unusual way.
“Through high school I was trying to find what fit best for me,” she said. “It was junior year that I found my dream job and learned what I had to do to reach that goal. I actually found out about the career from a T.V. show.”
Many different interests, like T.V shows, have helped people find what they love and would want to do with their lives.
“I used to watch The Fosters everyday and because of that I wanted to work in the foster care system. After looking into it, I decided I wanted to go into social work,” Shwerin said. “I want to help children find better homes, which meant I would have to work within the foster care system.”
College is not always the obvious choice, however. Kiera Mellgren, freshman at Fox Valley Technical College (FVTC), wasn’t always sure she was meant for college.
“I honestly never thought this is where I would end up,” she said. “I even told myself it wouldn’t happen. But then I got to thinking, I might as well try so in the end I decided to go.”
The choice to go to college or not is one thing, but once that choice is made the next step can be difficult. In college, that next step would be to decide what to study and more importantly, why they want to study it.
“Even though originally I didn’t think I would go, I’m now studying criminal justice at the tech and I will be transferring to UWO to study psychology,” Mellgren said. “I want to be a sexual assault advocate and therapist. I have known many people in my life that went through assault and I want to help other victims.”
Even though the initial enrollment decision might change, the process of application, acceptance, and moving can be a difficult one. West alumni Mel Weigand didn’t realize how lengthy the application process really is.
“First, you want to get an idea of what majors or minors you want to study because you have to put that in with your application,” he said. “Another important piece to consider is what schools will actually accept your ACT scores with your GPA and anything else on your transcript.”
Most Oshkosh graduates were unaffected as COVID did not affect their application process because they had submitted theirs before the time of the uproar.
“Normally the application window is between September first and Thanksgiving,” Counselor Lynn Swoverland said. “Some begin as early as August first and early application is never a bad idea.”
Because of the early period and short window, the pandemic will be affecting the application process for the class of 2020 and likely more to come.
“I really enjoyed being able to go to my top schools and tour them to find the type of atmosphere that I want to study in,” Weigand said. “It's going to have a great impact on future graduates not being able to tour their colleges because many don’t know how schools can be drastically different.”
Much like in high school, classes look very different for many college students as well. What would be in person with many others, is now behind a screen.
“I had a good amount of financial aid when going to college, so for me, being partially online actually represented the cost fairly well.” Shwerin said. “I do understand that there are a lot of students that aren’t that lucky and will be paying a lot of money to sit on their computer all day.”
Much like the high school students, kids in college are longing to go back to in person classes.
“I would much rather be in person, but I understand why we can’t be right now,” Mellgren said. “Next semester we are hybrid with some classes in person so I’m pretty excited about that. I’m hoping for the best and I’m hoping everyone else gets to have a good rest of their high school experience. You only get this once so you just have to keep pushing through these times.”
Preparing for college in times like these can be troublesome, but Shwerin has some words of advice.
“Make sure you keep up with your school work and make the most of what you can,” she said. “You’re going through high school, one of the most confusing times, during a global pandemic. It’s scary and I understand that. But I know that you can all make it through, so stay strong right till the end.”
By Sophie Burke
Oshkosh West Index Volume 117 Issue 2
October 30th 2020