Alumni Dylan Charney, Griffin Rick, Natalie Bianchi, Alexia Acosta, Lucas Acosta, Owen Noble, Jesus Arriaga, Jayla Provance, and Lucia Camp shared their first semester of college experiences.
Griffin, attending Boston University and majoring in biology with a specialization in neuroscience, spent his first semester as an exchange student in Florence, Italy.
“Getting thrown into a different country isn’t exactly what you’d expect out of the first semester of college, but I’d definitely say that you should do it,” Griffin said. “It’s an absolutely spectacular experience, getting to live somewhere totally new.”
Jayla balances attending Claremont McKenna College with a major in economics and playing on her college’s golf team. She spoke about the consistency you need when applying to a college for sports and reaching out to coaches.
“I spent my sophomore year reaching out to college coaches and visiting universities. I kept emailing college coaches even if they wouldn’t respond,” Jayla said. “I think around maybe late October, I eventually committed to Claremont McKenna College.”
Alexia, attending Pratt Institute with a major in industrial design, spoke about the process of curating an art portfolio and her last-minute decision to go to an art school.
“I had to build a complete portfolio for each art school. Each art school has its own requirements that you have to go specifically looking for your portfolio. I reached out to Mr. U and talked to college counseling because I didn’t expect to make a portfolio until after the summer because I didn’t know I wanted to go to art school,” Alexia said. “It was a very spontaneous choice on my part, but I did it, and I got into college.”
When sharing surprises alums faced in college, Jesus, who is currently attending Clark University with a double major in finance and Spanish, shared how he didn’t anticipate how small his class sizes were.
“Clark is a pretty small school, and I didn’t really envision how small it would be. My smallest class was nine students, and my biggest class was only 40 students. For me personally, I think it was great because I got to talk with the professors often and would go to their office hours often as well. So I think that’s very important to think about when you’re applying to college,” Jesus said.
Dylan attends American University as an international relations major and ROTC Air Force cadet.
“I’m sure you’ve all heard this a million times, but communicate! If you can, communicate with your roommate,” Dylan said. “If not, communicate with the administration and the housing people. Keep doing it, and ask for help. Find ways to communicate no matter how out-of-the-box it can be.”
When asked how Laguna helped prepare him for college, Lucas, attending the University of Pennsylvania and majoring in biology in the premed track, shared how Laguna helped elevate his writing abilities.
“One of my biggest strengths was my writing abilities. Most colleges make you take a mandatory writing class, and the writing here really preps you for writing in college,” Lucas said. “I also think being able to advocate for yourself such as talking in lectures or talking to your professors is something you really learn at Laguna.”
Lucia, attending the University of California Berkeley and majoring in political science, shared her thoughts on what extracurricular activities one should focus on in high school.
“To me, the activities you spend your time on matter, but not necessarily for getting into college. For me what happened was I did all these activities in high school and I don’t know if it necessarily impacted my college acceptance,” Lucia said. “But after getting into college when you apply for job positions, internships, etc. It’s really important you have past experience and that you know you are capable of doing certain tasks.”
Owen, majoring in behavioral economics and art at Carnegie Mellon University, speaks about his college application process while applying for financial aid.
“As for the actual college choosing process, financial aid was a component for me. ‘Demonstrated financial need’ is whatever the college wants it to be sometimes. I think it’s best that if you think you’re gonna need financial aid, you should also apply for outside scholarships,” Owen said. “If I had started that earlier and done more, it would have been a lot easier.”
Natalie, who currently attends Southern Methodist University and is majoring in sports management, shares how her involvement in high school sports influenced her choice of major.
“In high school, I didn’t do many academics, but I did do a lot of sports. I have now catered my college experience to club sports and going to sports games with my friends,” said Natalie. “It makes the transition easier by doing things that you know from your past and bringing them into your new college life,” Natalie said.
Students enjoyed listening and learning from these alumni, and we are excited to see where their educational journey will take them.
