WOODBURY — One of the biggest questions high school students are challenged with is what to do after high school. Take a gap year and work? Go straight into the workforce and skip college? Go to college, and if so where? High schoolers, especially juniors and seniors, are heavily pressured to figure out what to do with their lives.

Fortunately, for upperclassmen, there’s an invaluable resource available: Kathy Green and the College and Career Resource Center. 

College visits are a great way to learn more about the college students are looking at and the college experience in itself. Green, a counselor in the CCRC, encourages students to take more action in their future and says college visits are a great way to help guide students who don’t know what they want.

“I think there’s value for a student to come to a college visit even if they haven’t done research to get an idea of what the college is like,” said Green. “However, I do think it’s more effective and has a larger value overall if students do research on their own beforehand and then go to the college visits that way they can ask specific questions.”

Green suggests that students take time to learn and research about the subjects prior to attending the meeting or visits so that they can have questions prepared based on what major they might be interested in or other specific questions based on what they’re looking for in a college. Green also says that students should go to college visits to make connections with the admissions counselors.

“Students should take advantage of meeting with the counselors who are going to be reading their applications,” said Green, who encourages all students to take hold of their future and start planning for life beyond NHS. Even though the Nov. 1 deadline for free applications has passed, the CCRC is still a great source of information and guidance for students navigating in chaotic times of their lives.

“Visits are a great way of grasping a lot of information about a college without having to go visit the college,” said Reece Davis, a senior at Nonnewaug. “Students of all grades should take advantage of college visits to see how they want to plan their future.”