Accepted!
We know we are a senior when we get really excited when our mother yells that we have mail. We rush out of our room into the living room or kitchen and rip the mail out of her hand. We either are very disappointed with yet another college advertisement or, even worse, junk mail. For some of us we hold a letter nicely addressed to us from a college we have been waiting for. Just from holding it in our hand we feel excited and nervous and we're not exactly sure why because obviously we have already made our decision. We slowly rip back the seal and pull out the piece of paper. Then we read the first lines: Dear Mr. or Ms. FCCLA Member, We are pleased to let you know, pack your bags and go to college! YES! We got in! We did it! But wait, I still have half my senior year left and I have no idea what I am doing, now what?
First, you better celebrate and congratulate yourself because you did it! You got into college and you are going to do so much with your life. Then you have to remember exactly what you thought of…you do have a half a year of high school left and you can't just forget about that. You want to make sure you maintain all your current grades and not fall off the wagon. You are obviously busy your senior year, but it's not the time to give everything up. Keep up all your hard work.
The next thought for a lot of us is, “Great, now I'm accepted. But how do I pay for it?” You want to make sure there is money available to you to help get you through school. You have learned about ways of being financially fit in your financial literacy class. You know that you need money and I am also sure you can calculate student loans and other prices that will add up. But it's time to start thinking about scholarships. There is a lot of money out there. You could even just go to a search engine and type in “random scholarships,” and see what you get. There are scholarships for everything from writing with a left hand, to wearing a duck tape suit, to even having red hair. You should also check out the great Michigan FCCLA website (mifccla.org) with lots of helpful links along with the ability to apply for FCCLA scholarships. If that's not enough National FCCLA offers many scholarships too! Just go out there and be proactive about your future finances.
Now, you are finally starting to cross out the months, count down the weeks, and rip off the days. You are going to be a graduate of your school soon. You are going to receive that diploma in just a matter of months. You are so excited but so nervous. Now is the time you should make sure you have all your housing information in and you are all set to began your journey at your dream college!
If you're going away to school, leaving home can be a very sad time. You know there is always someone who crys over everything and is very sad to leave it all, but wither you are the crier or you don't want to admit it - you're sad! You can still stay involved in everything after high school. If you were in sports, you might be continuing it in college or maybe see if you can volunteer in a local high school near your college. If you love art, see if you can help out a museums or register for art classes.
One thing we will all miss for sure is FCCLA. However, FCCLA offers many opportunities to stay involved. You can join the Alumni and Associates division. You can help out by evaluating at our State Leadership Conferences. You can continue to come back and volunteer with your chapter. You can even do the best thing and become a Family Consumer Sciences teacher yourself and start your own chapter. You can help this organization to grow and continue inspiring a whole new generation as a teacher.
Going to college is going to involve an array of emotions and experiences for all of us, whether you're staying at home or moving away. We are going to do so many wonderful things! We have learned so much from our high school careers, especially from our Family Consumer Science classes and FCCLA. We will never forget what we have experienced. As we reach for the new frontier of college just remember: keep up your hard work, fund your education, and keep doing what you love.