Graduation means the end of high school but the beginning of a new chapter that they get to choose, and four seniors have decided their next steps toward success involve heading straight to work.
One of these students is senior Brody Glover, who knows that even though he’s not going to college, he can still work his way up with training.
“It’s going to be doing an internship with one of my dad’s friends for his electrician and company and learning all the ropes for that stuff, going on to be an apprentice, from apprentice to journeyman, then maybe becoming a master electrician later down the line,” Glover said.
Another one of the seniors headed straight to work is Lucas Bussing. Bussing plans to become a mechanic, and while he knows that he will have to work his way up, he plans to work hard and gain more knowledge about his field of work.
“I know I’m going to start at the bottom, and I knew this when I chose to go to work after high school instead of going to college. I’ll already have work experience compared to some of the people my age that are going to college, though, which I’m hoping will get me ahead,” Bussing said.
These students will have to work their way up, and this isn’t their only challenge. Senior Cecilia Mayne-Hernandez, who plans to get a welding job, is going to be missing the college dorm experience.
“There’s parts of me where it’s like, ‘Oh, I’ll never have, like, a college dorm experience.’ I kind of want that but not as much as I want to just be able to work outside of school because it’s more freeing, I feel like, and I just don’t want to go to college,” Mayne-Hernandez said.
Even though they might miss out on the college experience, these students won’t have to experience the stress of having schoolwork to tend to.
“You’re not going to be stressed about school anymore. I mean, you’re gonna be stressed picking out colleges, making sure you got everything, deconstructing your room to take it there, taking whatever you need with you—where as soon as you go to work after high school, you can just be still at home with your parents or live by yourself. You just won’t have to worry about that type of stress. The only stress you have is being able to pay bills that come up with taxes. I mean that I’d rather deal with that stuff than worrying about my next paper,” Glover said.
Another benefit these students see is the money they can both make and save. For senior Mason Mattheis, who plans to go into the software field, this is the biggest benefit.
“Just having money and not having to worry about school debt is a big one. Plus, already having experience in the working field I’m going into and just having something to do to pass the time,” Mattheis said.
But perhaps the biggest benefits for some of these students is that they don’t have to wait to start their dream job.
“I’ll have all my time to myself. I don’t have to worry about classes anymore, I can just work, and I’ll enjoy welding because it’s something I really like to do,” Mayne-Hernandez said. “The idea of doing something I love made me choose to go straight into work right after I graduate high school.”
