Getting Ready For Your Next Chapter

Hey Baby Jags!

You're all coming to the end of the road and getting ready to close a large chapter of your life. You may be excited, you may be nervous.. I must admit, I was a little of both. There are a few things you can do to help you prepare for your transition to college. These things definitely helped me be comfortable as I left home and started the next chapter of my academic career.

First of all, SCHOLARSHIPS. My entire last semester was devoted to finding scholarships in my community and surrounding areas that I could apply for. College is expensive, as we all know. Many students do not realize how much money is available to them if they just search. Your guidance counselor at your high school should be able to lead you in the right direction if you aren't sure where to start and I would also suggest searching online for scholarship possibilities. Most are simple applications with short essays to accompany them and most people are not aware of many of the scholarships offered so you have a great chance of being awarded large amounts of money. This was extremely helpful to me because it took a lot of the financial stress of college off of my parents!

Second, start connecting with people who are also attending your college of choice. At South Alabama, we have a Facebook group (USA Class of 2021) which many of you are a part of. This is a great way to meet people so when you get on campus you have people who you can talk to, go to the caf or student center with, and help you get used to your new college routine. Making connections beforehand makes watching your mom drive away and leave you at your dorm much easier!

Lastly, cherish every moment you have left in your hometown surrounded by your high school friends. The group of friends I went to high school with are still my best friends today and being away from them was extremely hard to get used to, especially because I was the only one who left my hometown of Troy and came to South. Enjoy all of the time you have with them because although you will make amazing lifelong friends in college, nothing can compare to your squad back home :)

Good luck to all of you as you finish your last few months of high school.

Love & light xx

Laura

Comments

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Hey baby Jags! You are all almost through the first semester of your senior year and trust me, things are just going to continue to become more overwhelming as time marches on. The end of high school can be stressful, but it is also extremely exciting getting to close one chapter and start a new one. There were a few things I did personally to help me prepare for my transition to college and they definitely decreased my stress levels. First, TOUR CAMPUSES. If you are unsure about where you want to attend or you're stuck between two colleges, go visit each one. When I walked on the campus of South Alabama all of my doubts were erased and I felt at home automatically. Trust me, when you know you just know. Second, SCHOLARSHIPS. My entire second semester of my senior year was dedicated to finding and applying for scholarships. There are many scholarships throughout your community that you probably don't even know about. Go to your guidance counselor and they can help le...

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Hey baby Jags! Picking the college you want to attend can be extremely stressful. It can get overwhelming to muddle through a list of schools and deciding where you want to spend the next 4+ years of your life can be very scary. Everyone approaches the college-picking process differently, but I will give you three tips that I used to help decide on a university. 1) Money. For me, I looked into scholarship requirements and figured out how much assistance I could get from each university I was interested in. Finances are a huge factor for most people when deciding on a college. I found that South was the most affordable and I was able to earn the largest amount of scholarship money here as well. 2) Location. I come from a college town so all of my friends stayed in our hometown for school. I wanted to get away but also be close enough to home to be able to get to my parents if I ever needed them. South is about 3 hours from my hometown of Troy and about 45 minutes from the...

Laura JagGuide

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