The summer before college is usually a time for seniors to spend time with family and friends that they will leave behind when they leave for school in the fall. However, for many seniors, summer is a time to get a head start on school or sports at the schools they will be attending.

Attending summer school is very common among seniors at CHS. Many students are provisionally accepted to the school of their choice which usually includes taking school during the summer.

Leann Keach is one of the seniors who were provisionally accepted to the school of her choice. She will be attending Texas A&M in the fall, but first, she will take a few courses through the Gateway Program at A&M.

“A&M was my first choice in colleges,” Keach said. “I was willing to take summer school if it meant that I would be able to attend A&M in the end. I am excited about getting a head start in school too.”

Not all students are forced to take summer school, though. Jeff Johnson is choosing to take summer school just because he wants to. He will be leaving in the middle of June for summer school at the University of Texas.

“A lot of people view summer school as annoying and most people wouldn’t do it if they had to,” Johnson said. “In my opinion, summer school will be beneficial for me because I will be able to get acquainted with the school and meet a bunch of new people, as well as be ahead in school. My sister did summer school before her first year of college and she said that even if you don’t have to, summer school is actually fun and is something that everybody should consider doing.”

Luciana Mendes is also leaving early for the University of Texas, but not for school. She will be starting practices and be busy with activities for the UT pom squad. She is one of the two freshmen who were selected to be a part of the 2010-11 squad and will be leaving for school on June 7, the day after graduation.

“It is really early for me to be leaving, but I couldn’t be more excited about it,” Mendes said. “I am most excited about getting to know the rest of the girls on the squad throughout the summer. They are a great group of girls and I can’t wait to dance with them.”

Leaving early for school is something very common among seniors at CHS. It is seen as a way to get ahead in school or sports, and in the end, is a very beneficial choice.

As the infamous May 1 deadline rapidly approaches it seems most seniors have made their final decisions as to what they will be doing next year.

While some have opted for the work force, others have decided to take a year off and some have already graduated, seniors attending school next fall have also made significant decisions regarding their future.

With Facebook groups being made for seniors to display their college choices, it seems that almost everyone is in the final stages of preparing for next year.

Staff Writer

I recently begun looking at college applications, filling out internship information forms, ect and I realized that I am pathetically average. I get low A’s or high B’s in most of my classes, I am a member of two clubs, I am in one student sponsored  extracurricular activity, I played a sport but didn’t continue for the entirety of my high school career, and I volunteer in the community once every few months. Huh.

The thought that I am indeed ‘average’ hit me like a ton of bricks. Those who know me consider me the farthest thing from average, but on paper I am completely boring. I can’t tell an admissions office that I read The Catcher in the Rye in my spare time, and I can’t tell the editor of the local paper that I have and read copies of The New York Times from the 30s. Well, at least not until an interview and I can’t get an interview until I add a ‘wow factor’ to my applications and cover letters. How lame. 

I have decided that the basis on which we are judged for things like college, jobs and internships is completely ridiculous. Who has the ability to judge who we are based off of facts and the things only a piece of paper can hold? I understand that the fact checking is important and that certain criteria must be met in order to make sure someone is right for whatever position they are attempting to hold, but I hate that all of my accomplishments, that I thought were such a big deal, don’t even fill out two lines on a pages typed in Times New Roman 12pt font.

Everything worth having requires the meeting of some kind of criteria. You have to be dedicated enough to deserve it, competitive enough to go for it, and talented enough to achieve it. A piece of paper is just the basis of this information, but, it is all an admissions director has to determine if you meet that initial criteria. My recommendation? Spice it up. Not only make it better, but make it unique!

Most students don’t feel they can make a difference. We get involved as much as we can but never get the feeling that we are truly recognized or appreciated.

One college student is making a difference, however, and not just at his university but across the nation.

Baylor University senior Will Bakke, the director of One Nation Under God, is coming out with a new and inspiring film this weekend. The movie is called Beware of Christians.

Starring Bakke and his friends Michael Allen, Matt Owen and Alex Carroll, Beware of Christians is a documentary-styled film following the four boys’ search to discover the Jesus of the Bible, rather than the Americanized version they have grown up hearing about. In order to dig deeper into their own personal faith, they travel out of the U.S. and into ten European cities, observing un-American Christianity.

During their trip, the college students grow closer to each other and to the God of their faith. They discover what it means to live life for Christ rather than the world, and they provide an encouraging example for viewers.

Beware of Christians has select showing dates and times across the state. It is coming to the Lakewood Theater in Dallas next weekend, April 2 and 3. Showtimes are 7 pm and 9:30 pm on Friday and 2 pm, 7 pm and 9:30 pm on Saturday. Tickets can be purchased online here.

College is a big step.  It takes maturity and confidence to leave behind one’s childhood and enter a new school surrounded by strangers, crazy professors and a very different environment. 

For students moving out of state next year, the transition from Coppell will be even more drastic than for those heading just a few hours away.

Senior Spayne Avant will be traveling to Central Florida next year, and because the school is so far from Coppell, she will be away from her friends and family for the majority of the year.

“I will have to fly to and from school and probably won’t even be able to come home on holidays,” Avant said.  “I’m not really nervous because my sister lives there, but I really don’t know anyone at the college.”

For students like Avant, not only is the drive—or even flight—long and tiring, but the move is also more permanent.  Out-of-state college students cannot simply pop back home on weekends.  Once they are settled in their dorms, it is oftentimes where they will remain until Thanksgiving break.

Attending universities far from home also prevents college students from seeing their friends and family in Texas on a regular basis.  Goodbyes become more serious and reunions more sweet.

“I’m going to Belmont University in Nashville because it’s one of the few schools I found that offers audio engineering,” senior Grayson Akerly said.  “It’s definitely going to be different being so far from my family and friends, but I think I’ll be OK with it.  I’ll probably just come home on holidays.”

Though traveling across the country for college is scary in many ways, the prospect is very exciting for some.  Senior Chip Zurita will attend the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo. next year, and though he has some reservations about being so far away from Texas, he is looking forward to facing a completely new world on his own.

“I’m excited about the whole environment there,” Zurita said.  “I love the mountains and woods in Colorado, but I am a little nervous about the unfamiliar location.  I won’t know the roads or the city very well.”

A drawback to attending out-of-state universities, however, is the tuition.  Public schools’ out-of-state tuition is generally much higher than the in-state cost, and students (and especially their parents) must decide if the expense is worth it.

For example, Texas A&M’s tuition is roughly $5,000 (not including room & board and fees), but for out-of-state students, it is $19,500, according to cgi.money.cnn.com.  A student wishing to attend a public university in Texas could pay around $9,000 (University of Texas in Austin), versus $36,000 at an out-of-state one (University of Michigan).  Coppell students traveling out of Texas can pay thousands of dollars more to attend their desired universities.

“Belmont is a private school, so it doesn’t have a different out-of-state tuition, but we had to think about the cost of all the flights,” Akerly said.  “After visiting, though, it didn’t matter as much.  We’re trying not to make it an issue.”

CHS students have encountered the pros and cons of moving far away after senior year, and many have grasped at the opportunity to gain responsibility, grow up and see what the world is like beyond the gates of Texas.

“Even though I will be unfamiliar with the location, all the other kids there will be in the same situation as me,” Zurita said.  “The school is known for its camaraderie, so hopefully we can all bond.”

I often write about traditions.  Call me sentimental, but I just love the familiarity and comfort of routine.  As a senior, however, I am growing slightly nervous over the fact that I will be dropping everything and moving to Abilene Christian University—three hours from Coppell—in just six months.

In a way, though, it’s also exciting.  Because although I will be leaving traditions behind, I look forward to beginning new ones that might last into my adulthood.

I will miss watching American Idol and The Bachelor with my family and critiquing the shows as if we are experts.  I will miss driving to church on Sunday mornings with my sister as we sing to the radio and stuff donuts down our throats at the last minute.  I will miss begging my parents to take us out to lunch on Sunday afternoons, as my sister and I have done since we could speak.

Though I will be back for Thanksgiving and Christmas breaks, I will not get to experience the extensive prep before both holidays.  Every year, I have helped decorate the inside of our house for Christmas, and I have always been present when we selected the perfect Christmas tree.  Next year, however, I will come home to a house that is already decked-out in green and red, stockings, angels and lights.

Not only will I be taken away from the “big” traditions, but I will also miss the less-significant ones.  I am beginning to savor the sweet moments of just sitting around talking and laughing with my friends—some of the most fun and truly effortless moments of my life—because I know I won’t get to experience them much after August.

Seniors always say to “enjoy it while it lasts,” and though I have always disregarded the advice, I now realize the truth of the seemingly cliché statement.   I am beginning to grasp how important it is to relish and remember all the big and small things that you get to experience in your youth—and specifically in high school.

This last semester of school, I am attempting to appreciate the small traditions that I have grown accustomed to over the years, realizing even simple events like being with my friends and family members on their birthdays will be different after graduation.

And though it will in some ways be a bitter parting, I know it will also be very sweet.  I am looking forward to forming new traditions in college, maybe having Movie Fridays, baking chocolate chip cookies before finals or painting my face for football games.  I let my imagination roam.  I look forward and hope to develop different routines and experience new “collegiate” habits that will further define me as the adult I will be when I graduate.

Because that’s life, isn’t it?

I know it is not healthy to stay complacently happy in the traditions and routines I now experience, because without leaving them behind I can never move forward and reach all the goals I want to accomplish.  Just as we advance from crawling to walking, from elementary to high school, it is part of our design to leave behind our childhood customs and form new ones that are truly ours—not our parents’.

So I will resolve to enjoy the traditions I encounter over the remaining months and look forward to future routines with excitement.

And then I’ll just go with the flow.

The NCAA is looking into yet again possibly expanding the men’s basketball tournament, though discussion is still ongoing and nothing concrete, the idea is out there.

As it stands now, 65 teams make it to the big dance, 65 out of 347 or 18 percent. A number that protects the prestige of the tournament but also lends itself to modification given what the other major sports allow into their postseason – NFL (37 percent), NCAA Football (56 percent), NBA and NHL (37 percent), MLB (26 percent).

Another argument in favor of adding teams to the tournament would be that it would give mid major schools more opportunities to get bids, similar to what anti-BCS lobbyists point out when attempting to get a playoff system in college football.

If the NCAA is to expand the tournament field, it will first have to deal with the television aspect of it, and entrance requirements would have to be altered. For instance having the conference regular season and tournament champion get automatic bids, this would reward consistency throughout the season as well as a team on a late hot streak.

An inflation of the just doesn’t make any sense to me. Not because I wouldn’t like to see more teams and players have the chance to play in the NCAA tournament, but the system simply isn’t broke. The money, the fan interaction with brackets and the champion is determined on the playing surface, it’s perfect.
Adding a few more mediocre, 13 seeds if you will, wouldn’t enhance the quality of the postseason. Hey, that’s why there’s the NIT.

Next week the college basketball world will be the center of attention.  With the super bowl buzz likely over, college basketball’s rivalry week pitting great teams against equally as great teams should create the March Madness feeling a month early.

Games will include:

So be sure to tune in to this great week of games on the ESPN family of networks.

Today on ESPN the east west shrine game is ongoing with the East up three, 6-3 at the half. This game showcases seniors from across the land in a game for NFL scouts to watch and observe.

The most important part for college players is the week of practice and drills they get to do showing scouts even more about them.  The biggest game for scouts to focus on is the senior bowl.

The senior bowl will have some of the best college seniors such as Tim Tebow display their talents in hopes to impress.  Getting in a great week of practice and playing well in the big game will help many players make a name for themselves.  This will also help them get into the NFL where their pro dreams could come true.

Many players will either raise or lower their stock but for college football fans, it’s just some more games to get their fix in before spring football rolls around.

As Juniors find senior year approaching, Naviance Family Connection serves as a great all-purpose tool for anything and everything related to college.

Earlier this year, students should have set up a Naviance account with their counselors and teacher -the username following the format of the student’s older school e-mail (ABC2345@students.coppellisd.com) and password (mm/dd/yy).

With the three main categories of college, career and “about me”, Naviance users can have access to information on upcoming college visits, scholarship opportunities, college maps; career choices and personality and interest tests; and history about you, the student.

With the “about me” feature, students can access their recorded favorite colleges, favorite careers, their personality type, resume, completed surveys, test scores and much, much more.

Further, the personal profile found on Naviance displays the student’s GPA and class rank, as of December ‘09 and to be updated by the first of March.

The college research tool of the Web site allows students to look up colleges with ease(by name, by letter, by state or by country!) and then offers the school’s contact information, application deadlines, general information (like whether the school is private or public, how many students are enrolled…), blog posts from other users about that school, admissions qualifications, available majors and degrees, types of residences available, student organizations… the list goes on and on.

Naviance also offers free test preperation in math, critical reading and writing and offers a “quetsion of the day” to help keep students on track. It also offers a 13-week schedule guide with tips on how to raise your score on the SAT.

Don’t forget to take advantage of Naviance while you prepare for college.