As College Day flew by, students pondered if the activities they participated in were worth wasting a day of school.
College Day was on Wednesday, October 19th. Each grade was given a different activity planned for the half-day. Freshmen learned about Naviance and stress-relieving exercises, sophomores and juniors took the PSAT, and seniors worked on college applications or seeing guest speakers.
“I was excited,” freshman Molly Buddie said. “It [helped] to get started on the college process this early. It’s also nice to miss a day of school.”
Freshmen might have been excited for their College Day experience, but sophomores and juniors felt less inclined to take the PSAT. The PSAT, or Practice SAT, can earn students scholarships if they do well.
Junior Gabriel Goldberg said, “I’m excited for the SAT but not the PSAT… I didn’t study for the PSAT at all.”
Many other students taking the PSAT share the same sentiment towards it as Goldberg, but many also see the usefulness of the PSAT, such as junior Garrett White.
“It’s sortof cool that we’re taking the PSAT, but I definitely don’t like taking a test,” White said, “[Despite that], it’s worth it to miss a day, like for the scholarships.”
Seniors on the other hand, were more upbeat about their College Day experience.
Senior Hannah Alston was looking forward to her College Day experience, “because they said we get food.”
Alston was referring to the breakfast snacks that seniors were promised at the beginning of the day. From 9:30 to 12:30, seniors could either listen to lectures on different after-high-school topics or work on college applications. Before College Day, Alston and other seniors were confused on what they were going to do. This confusion may have been caused by a lack of information on the activities seniors ended up doing.
“I’m assuming we’re going to get help on college apps,” Alston said, with a hint of confusion in her voice.
Students from all grades had mixed opinions on their different College Day activities, but teachers saw the day in a different light.
“We have had [College Day] for 8 years, it has changed so much,” college and career counselor Ms. Matavulj said. “College Day exists solely because of the PSAT.”
Some of the changes that Matavulj mentioned include the fact that freshmen have college activities instead of going on college tours. The choice that seniors had between working on college applications or listening to speakers is also a new development
Other teachers are fully in support of College Day, such as Ms. Camera who teaches seniors in AP English Literature.
“The whole college process is daunting; it’s good to have people who are experts help with college applications,” Camera said. “It’s fine to take a day off to work on getting ready for college.”
