WOODBURY — It’s about that time: The weather is getting warmer, the nights are getting shorter, and the seniors can see the finish line.
Many Nonnewaug seniors know what they want to do beyond June’s graduation at this point in the year, but seniors still have to keep up with each class and get through the rest of the academic year.
Prepared senior Mia Castro already has her plan of action. In fact, she knew where she wanted to go as an freshman. Nowadays thinking about college as an underclassman scares most kids.
“I will of course miss my high school years, but I know what I have to do, I know the steps I have to take to reach my goal,” says Castro, who will graduate this spring and study nursing at CT State in Waterbury with a focus in ultrasound technology.
It’s truly an exciting feeling knowing you have so much ahead to look forward to.
“I’m now just waiting to graduate high school to start my journey,” says Castro.
For students like Castro, you know you did something right when you’re excited about moving forward.
“I feel like I’m going to like college life a lot more, being that I can customize my schedule, everything is more independent, and I get to meet so many new people,” says senior Eva Ripperger who will be attending Virginia Tech this fall. “College feels like a fresh start.”
Now that so many NHS seniors have a clear plan beyond June 14th’s graduation, the final few months of life in high school can be both frustrating and challenging.
“Being still a senior in high school, there is so much I could be doing right now to set myself up for college, but I still have to come to school and be a senior,” says Ripperger.
While college and technical training are popular routes for many students in the class of 2025, some plan to enter the workforce once they receive their diploma.
Senior Jakob Reynolds, owner of R.P.M (Reynolds Property Maintenance), set himself up for success since high school started. Some know right away that they are not the type to go to college after high school. So their top choice is usually going straight to a job site.
Here at NHS we have a lot of students going towards the workforce route, mostly because of the skills they honed in NHS’ ag program.
“When I was 16 I started my landscaping business,” says Reynolds, who has built a customer base throughout New Haven County doing landscaping property development. “I built relationships with my customers along the way, and I really enjoy the work I do.”
Reynolds understands that the skills he honed, his resilience and work ethic, will carry over into his business career after graduation.
“All my blood, sweat, and tears went into this business already; I only want it to grow from here,” says Reynolds. “I’m happy that once high school is over, I can work fuller days and of course make more money for my business.”
Reynolds enjoys the thought of being a business owner. He knows he’s in it for the long run, and also understands the freedom of running his own business.
“I get to work for myself, and no one’s my boss,” says Reynolds, who has lofty expectations for what his career can be. “I hope to be a millionaire.”
In addition to many talented and hardworking students who will enter the workforce due to their skills in agriculture, NHS also has a wide variety of students going to amazing schools that they worked so hard for academically.
For NHS seniors like Lily Kiernan, the prospect of life in college is something that she’s especially excited about.
“School has definitely slowed down after I knew where I wanted to go after high school,” says Kiernan, who plans on attending University of Rhode Island this fall to major in law. “All many seniors have left is committing to a school or trade and applying for scholarships.”
The thought of knowing that the people you’ve seen every day for the past 13 years will be moving onto bigger and better things could be upsetting to some of this year’s seniors.
“It’s sad I have to leave everyone,” says Kiernan, who is the senior class president, “but I’m excited to move on.”
