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FRI.| 4-12-24 | ENTERTAINMENT
Difficult decisions ahead: Britton Seymour
WED. | 02-09-22 | FEATURES
Every year, another class of seniors go through the application and decision-making process for college. This puts pressure on many high school students to figure the rest of their life out. There are several big choices that these students have to make in this one year.
Rose Senior Britton Seymour is in the midst of this right now. Seymour started working on her applications at the beginning of August 2021 and spent three to four months working on them. She applied to seven schools including University of South Carolina, University of Tennessee, Appalachian State University, University of North Carolina at Wilmington, Auburn University, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Clemson University.
“It was stressful having to submit them and write all the essays for them,” Seymour said. “Then I had to wait longer to hear back from them.”
In a 2019 study by the Washington Post, 66% of teenagers were reported to be worried about being accepted to certain colleges. Although it is trying, Seymour has personally found ways to feel at ease.
“It has helped trying to not stress myself out too much,” Seymour said. “I know that wherever I get into or don’t get into, it will be fine because there are always other options.”
Photo contributed by Britton Seymour
Fortunately, Seymour has already heard back from most of the schools she originally applied to.
“I have heard back from all of [the places I applied] except Clemson,” Seymour said. “I have gotten into all of the other schools, besides UNC.”
Among the schools she got into is the University of South Carolina, Seymour’s top choice as of right now.
“I got into the school and the major I wanted, which was nursing,” Seymour said. “I also went and toured there last year and I loved the campus.”
She initially got into the idea of nursing through taking various Career and Technical Education (CTE) courses at Rose.
“I came to that decision after taking health science classes at school, along with nursing fundamentals last semester,” Seymour said.
Although Seymour has a general idea of her future career choice, she still has to decide which school to attend. She was accepted into her top choice, but Seymour still feels conflicted about her final decision.
“It is hard to decide because I haven’t been able to tour everywhere yet and I’m not completely sure where I want to go,” Seymour said.
Many factors go into choosing a college, including what you want to major/minor in, location, finances, athletics, opportunities and more. This causes your final decision to be much harder to make. Seymour is not alone in this situation, as she sees the people around her struggling as well.
“I could say the same for most of my peers that it is all stressful, and no one knows what they really want to do yet,” Seymour said. “It is just about starting and figuring out something new.”
As Seymour has figured out how to navigate the process of applying for college, she has some advice for others who go through the same experience.
“Don’t stress yourself out too much because it will be okay, whatever happens,” Seymour said. “Start on your applications early because it makes it a lot easier.”
She also believes that it is important to start early by being successful in your beginning years of high school.
“Take classes that mean things to you, and electives that you want to take,” Seymour said. “Try to do your best starting freshman and sophomore year because it does matter when it comes down to applying to colleges.”
