It’s that little cozy office located directly across from the counseling suites. If you’re a junior or senior and have not yet been inside, you should probably consider giving it a visit.
The College and Career Center is WJ’s hub for the college application process, or for those seeking a potential path for the future. It contains almost everything school and career-related: from ACT vs. SAT bulleted pros and cons, to three large binders with fact sheets concerning every school in the United States, to shelves of prep and college readiness books.
College and Career center coordinator Bryna Blaine has been at the heart of the student support center for the past seven years. She has assisted hundreds of students and answered even more questions.
Blaine stresses the importance of visiting the center early in one’s high school career, to gain an understanding of the application proces and ease the transition from high school to college.
“I want students to feel comfortable enough to stop by early on in their high school course,” said Blaine.
The College and Career Center is a valuable resource to anyone interested in gathering more information about college or finding a career to pursue. Blaine believes students should not hesitate to simply stop by and have a look around. Materials on financial aid, college visits and course majors are constantly updated. She encourages students to venture in and ask questions.
“It would be great to have freshmen and sophomores stop by while seniors are asking questions about college,” said Blaine. “It could really inspire them to start thinking and become familiar with the process.”
Blaine mentions that students who stopped by on a regular basis were less likely to fall into “panic mode” when the process of selecting schools and sending applications began.
Blaine also stresses that the College and Career Center is not solely for colleges. There are multiple for job seekers as well.
More importantly, Blaine wishes to regain the hang-out scene that the Career Center used to have before the construction. She longs for the time when students would come in, sit on the couch with their friends, and enjoy each other’s company, talking about college or simply life in general.
The Career Center is a place where students can find numerous invaluable information sources and answers to some of the biggest questions they will face in the future. It all starts with the willingness to enter those doors and sign in on the clipboard.
