For many, junior year is a time for discovery. Students often determine their next steps during this period, such as looking into colleges, trade schools, jobs and more.
Lainey Anderson (she/her), 11, plans to study international relations in college. According to Anderson, she has thought about her future throughout high school.
“It was always something that was in the back of my mind, motivating my choices,” Anderson said.
Anderson has taken various Kirkwood classes to aid her decision. This past year, she toured multiple college campuses.
“[My family and I] visited Loyola, the University of Chicago, DePau, and Northwestern,” Anderson said. “I was in D.C. for the summer with the American Civil Liberties Union. I was on American University’s campus, and then I also toured George Washington through that program.”
When preparing for college, Anderson has kept a focus on her grades.
“It’s important to keep your grades up and keep your academics strong,” Anderson said. “I always want to make it look like I’m being challenged with what I’m doing, and that I’m doing well.”
Adeline Bair (she/her), 11, plans to study medicine in college. Regarding junior year, Bair’s primary recommendation is to take Kirkwood or university-level courses to gain college credit ahead of time.
“I think doing things that you are interested in is best when you’re thinking about taking classes at Kirkwood, the university or even in high school,” Bair said.
In addition to taking the SAT and touring different college campuses, such as the University of Chicago, Northwestern, Harvard and Yale, Bair has also enrolled in classes at the University of Iowa throughout high school. As a junior, Bair has taken clinical psychology and is currently taking anatomy. She also emphasized the importance of taking time to consider options.
“Starting freshman year, you should be thinking about where you want to go, what you want to pursue and what classes you should take to get on that track ahead of time,” Bair said.
Malea Kampman (she/her), 12, plans to attend Iowa State University in the fall to study architecture and shared some advice for current and upcoming juniors.
“I would recommend just putting together a list of things you want in college, find colleges that you think you’d fit at and just dive deeper into what you want,” Kampman said. “You can always go into college undecided. But if there’s something that interests you, take a class that has to do with it, or job shadows can be a good thing that you can utilize.”
For Kampman, getting involved at school helped build a foundation of skills to carry into college.
“I think the best thing I’ve done to prepare myself in general was to join NHS and [get] really involved. My junior year, I did all of the committees,” Kampman said. “Getting that experience with working with people is going to be useful for my future, and it helped me to have things to write about on my college stuff.”
Kampman also noted the benefits of taking college tours during this time.
“I [visited] a college that was really small, and it helped me make a decision that I didn’t want to go to a small college,” Kampman said.
Additionally, Kampman offered recommendations regarding her junior year experience.
“If I were to redo, I would take a few online courses,” Kampman said. “It’s definitely saving you money and it can help heighten your interest in what you want to do in your future.”
In general, junior year can be a beneficial time in terms of discovering interests and planning for the future.
