Senior Alex Shrauner patiently fills out an application for college at the kitchen table, she attaches her transcript and test scores with a paperclip. As she finishes her application, her hand is brushing away her black shoulder-length hair out of her face and tapping her other hand to get rid of the nerves out of on the table. But Alex is more than excited to experience the next four years of her new adulthood and independence.

The seniors Alex Shrauner and Ashton Eades have been preparing for their upcoming years in college, but also preparing to leave their homes and families.

“Yeah, leaving my sister and leaving my parents is just going to be weird, and Lubbock is like six hours away so it’s not like I can just drive home when I want to, so it’s going to be kind of hard,” Eades said.

But Shrauner is learning to become more independent and transforming herself into her own person. Shrauner will be taking on new challenges to prepare her mind for college.

“The biggest change will be having to be on my own and figure out stuff on my own without asking my mom for help or having her there for me or my friends,” Shrauner said. “I’ll have to meet new people and I’ll be in a totally different state and I’ll have to learn time management better so I can be more responsible.” 

Here at Heritage, our counselors provide a college fair for students to tour and support the students. We have counselors to help the students with their college requirements and further the students’ career path.

“Most students start in the spring of junior year. The sooner families start on college prep the better,” Belasco said. “Colleges look at all four years of academics, extracurriculars, and more when evaluating applicants, so starting early is key.” 

Eades got accepted into Texas Tech University because of her hard work on her ACT and SAT and her role on the Heritage Broadcast team. Also, Shrauner will be joining Arkansas University in the fall because of her dedicated work during all her AP classes throughout the four years at Heritage High School.

“Well I’m going to the University of Arkansas and it’s a good distance away from home but it’s not too far and it’s out of state so it’s a new experience, and the University of Arkansas has a really good class for Social Work,” Shrauner said.

Eades is filled with excitement and will be moving forward with her successful career as she joins her dream university with Brynnli her best friend right at her side.

“I’m going to Texas Tech, we just like fell in love with the campus and it has a good business program,” Eades said.

It is a huge step for the two seniors, there’s a difference between the responsibility in high school and college. The application process and deadlines can sometimes be stressful but Shrauner doesn’t forget that.

“Your family is always one call away,” Shrauner said.