As we as a school inch closer and closer to the end of the year, the end of homework, the end of classes and events, the finish line can feel daunting in a way.

The end can be challenging, but also vastly exciting, and what lies at the end of so many students’ high school careers is the beginning of their transition to adulthood, from a life of once foreign possibility and opportunity to one that slowly opens the doors to these barred gates of life. But why exactly do so many people follow a tradition in respect to their future? A tradition that keeps them tied to a school for years upon years, following even stronger guidelines to the likes of high school.

This tradition is college, and after talking to participants of the college lifestyle, along with upcoming college students, there seem to be a web of reasons for one to buckle down and abide by the life that college can offer.

In quick summary of the grip college holds within the lives of high school grads, data collected from the previous year’s Naviance surveys show that 66 percent of 2021 Brownsburg grads enrolled in college for a four-year degree and 12 percent for two years. With over ¾ of the student body venturing into college ground following graduation, the resonating nature of the route highlights its presence within the lives of so many.

To get some perspective on what many expect, or at least hope to expect out of their time in college, I talked to a couple of BHS seniors to see what awaits them, and why they are choosing the tradition.

After talking to seniors Sam Santiago and Grant Anderson, Santiago planning to attend Wabash College and Anderson with Purdue in his sights, it was both quick and easy to hear them sum up their reasons as to why they chose their respective schools.

“The academics, the alumni network is the most important as its probably going to get me a good job in the future. I mean, that’s pretty much it,” Santiago said.

“Ya know, Purdue’s got good academics; they’re known for it. I’m going in for engineering. It just makes sense,” Anderson said.

Quick, reliable responses that can ultimately be the swaying factor in how one chooses to spend their future. Questions such as “how will I get a job,” “do they have my specific degree,” “will I be able to make connections” can all be answered with clarity in these responses. These colleges provide reassurance in the chaotic period that can be the closing year of high school, and it’s through the path of college that so many fall back on these reasons, but what does one think of their choices after they have been made, after the leap has finally landed and they have actually attended their chosen school?

Talking with previous BHS students, Jesse Michaels and Max Harris, post the conclusion of their freshman year of college, they spoke on their desires going into college, and how they feel on the choices they made for their futures.

“College is a great transition to becoming an adult. It’s an awesome gateway to learning how to live on your own. I think at first it can be scary to be on your own. I think it also can help people who are trying to grow up. It’s a point of passage for sure, into kind of figuring out what the rest of my life could look like,” Harris said.

“I chose IU mainly because of Kelly and because it’s in-state for in-state tuition. I think I have wanted to go to college for a while now, partly for the social aspect, but also for networking and connections. I knew that I didn’t want to do manual labor type jobs, so construction and electrician type of jobs were out. I also knew going to college wouldn’t be something I hated. I think this seemed like the best option for me at the time and would help me pursue most all of the things I wanted to pursue,” Michaels said.

Diving headfirst into the unexpected, without complete certification that a choice will be successful, going off the reassurance of your own reasons is the process of life in simple terms, and college is no different.

It’s a risk, a risk that could result in back peddling or the complete remolding of one’s life, but it seems that once a bar is meet, once a standard of certainty that one can find a future, can find connections, can find their purpose, makes the risk seem worth it. College isn’t for everybody, but it can’t be denied that it holds a defined spot in the mind of one’s future. A path of education that millions dedicate years to in sight of greater advances in life, college can offer a future, and as risky as it may seem, one can only get to the light at the end of the tunnel by going through it, uncertainty and all.