Achieving Your Dreams: What I Wish I Had Done in High School

SherAaron Hurt, Junior, Michigan Technological University

I didn’t start thinking about which college I wanted to attend until I was in eleventh grade. At that point, I asked several of my mentors for advice on achieving my dreams, and they all had different ideas of where I should go. It was an overwhelming decision, deciding what college is right for me, and one I wish I’d started making earlier in high school. The president of Michigan Tech came to speak at my high school and I was sold. But since I had started so late — I didn’t take advantage of any college tour experiences early in high school — the day that I drove my things up to Houghton to move in for freshman year was the first time I’d ever stepped foot on campus. It’s a good thing I liked what I saw!

I’d recommend that ninth graders start earlier than I did in their search for the perfect college. They should begin by thinking about whether they’d do better at a big school or a small one. They should also think about the city and its surrounding area.

Even before I knew where I’d be going, I was laying the groundwork for college. I took a lot of AP classes. When I got to Michigan Tech as a business major, I only had to take two math classes, and both were a breeze because of the classes I chose to take in high school.

Sarah Kawaguchi, Senior, McGill University

As a grade nine student, I remember people asking me what I wanted to go into later on and I would reply that I really had no idea. The questioner would then inevitably respond that I still had a lot of time to figure it out. To be honest, grade nine seems like last week. And I realize now that some small decisions that I made back then actually ended up shaping not only my decision to apply to science programs, but ultimately my decision to go to medical school. 

These small decisions included taking biology instead of American history in grade 10, dropping economics because I didn’t have the space in my schedule — things that wouldn’t seem to be so formative at face value. You should really start exploring career options at an early age. Shadow a professional, like a parent or their friends. Talk to people in various fields and ask them about what they do, why they like it or don’t like it. Gathering this type of information may seem premature but in my opinion it is anything but.

Phillip Rutherford, Graduate, University of Michigan

When I was a freshman in high school, I saw my senior year as nothing more than the end of homework. The classes I chose were not on any type of college track — and that got me into trouble senior year. My counselor and I had a heart-to-heart one day, and he asked me: ‘Where do you see yourself 10 years from now?’ Although I don’t remember exactly what I said to him, I do remember it involved me having a college degree.

So, after high school, instead of taking a year off to hang out like I had initially wanted to, I checked out the classes at a local community college. There, I found out about the M-Ties program, which puts students on track to transfer to the University of Michigan after two years. I hadn’t realized that someone like myself — a terrible student in high school — could reasonably expect to attend a great college.

Now, I tell students this: even if you don’t know what you want to do with your life, start exploring what different colleges offer now. Your freshman year is a great time because it’s early enough to start doing the types of things you might have to do to get into certain schools. Playing catch-up at the last minute is one of the most stressful things a student can do.