Knowing what to do next is a major concern for many seniors, parents of graduating seniors and upcoming seniors. ‘What do you do after you’ve been accepted to your college of choice? What do you do once you get a job in the workforce that will keep you stable throughout adulthood? What do you do after you’ve joined the military?’ These are all questions being asked. In an interview with Mrs. Joni Martin, the college and career advisor for the past 10 years, she explains how this process will go for the young adults of Brownsburg. Martin also gives insight and advice as to what juniors and seniors should do.

For many graduating seniors who have gotten into college, there are not many resources for them to access about what they need to do after acceptance and after graduation. For those who missed a deadline or changed their mind about which school they want to go to, no worries! There are still schools accepting applications. For the 1^st and 15^th of every month leading up to May 1 (commitment deadline) you can still apply to some colleges. For example, there are out-of-state schools that have their own deadlines if one is interested in that. For Indiana colleges, there are a few that will still accept applications. Indiana University Bloomington and Ball State closed applications on Feb. 1. Other deadlines throughout Indiana will be on February 15, March 1 and March 15.

Some tips shared to seniors from Mrs. Martin are: “Be a planner, establish time management, be organized and be responsible.” Martin also mentioned life advice she wished she had had before her graduation. “I wish I had learned more time management when I was a senior in high school. I had to adjust to a different day-to-day schedule,” Martin said. Going from high school to college took some figuring out and a little bit of time. This transition is a very important part of the lifelong journey of adulthood. While we strongly suggest following these tips, know that the only person able to make these changes and make good use of the habits is you, the senior, junior or parent. “Learn how to multitask because there are many tasks as an adult you have to manage, and prioritizing them responsibly is very important,” Martin said. Decreasing these anxieties about college and grown-up life is why Brownsburg has Mrs. Martin, to help seniors and juniors learn about their options and to help them to learn how to make big decisions and do them correctly.

Martin also adds how Brownsburg teachers incorporate a lot of real-world lessons in their classrooms and how counselors and team members “are always available to talk to students about how to be prepared as young adults.” All the teachers here at BHS in one form or another have incorporated life lessons into their lessons. Ranging from math and English to choir and band all these hard-working teachers try their very hardest to guide the students of BHS to a better and more educated future. Martin suggests that seniors learn to be independent, become problem solvers and establish financial discipline.