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Ready, Set, Go to College!
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College: Here I Come!
It will be 20 years this May since I graduated from college. Yes, it seems like yesterday. College is a wonderful opportunity to explore your academic interests and discover new ones, develop new skills, make new friends from different backgrounds, and learn to be a lifelong learner. A college degree is also a hiring requirement for most desirable jobs in the United States. It is something that you should want to have, and will likely need to have to be successful in future years.
Although college may seem likes years away to most middle school students, this is actually an excellent time to start planning for college. College had hardly crossed my mind until I went on a class trip to the University of Virginia (UVA), when I was in the 8th grade. After touring the campus (which they call, "The Grounds"), I quickly started to imagine myself as a student there. My friend Suzie and I made a plan: we would study really hard and earn admission to UVA. Look at the picture on the right and you'll see me jumping for joy as a first semester student at UVA. My college dream came true! Suzie had, in the meantime, changed her college plan. She dreamed of going to college in the mountains of North Carolina where she could hike on the weekends.
Know How 2 Go is a Web site that is a wonderful tool to help you make your college dreams become a reality. The site was designed to encourage middle and high school students want to go to college and help them figure out how to get there. You can visit a virtual college campus on this site. While there, you can collect information for a “notebook” that you can email to yourself. The site also includes a Mentor section that designed especially for Spanish speakers.
FinAid is a site that will help you and your families figure out how to pay for college. I'm told it is one of the comprehensive sites around for learning about scholarships and understanding how to apply financial aid for college.
Getting Ready for College: What ELL Students Need to Know is a helpful article to read to prepare for college.
College.Gov is another site I encourage you to explore.
Ms. Simpson's Website for English Language Learners
South Orange Maplewood, NJ
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