The Journey: Freshman Year

Discovery and Development

Cumulative grades will be a major component of the college admission decision. Colleges want to see upward growth in grades and the selection of challenging courses. Establishing good study habits in High School will be essential. When challenges arise, you should be proactive by asking teachers for help, or finding a tutor. Asking for help is an important step toward maturity.

Self-Reflection for Students

Think about how you want to spend time outside of class. What brings you joy? What challenges you? This could be a sport, the performing arts, community service, computer programming, video game design, robotics, or any number of possibilities. Upon recognizing these interests and passions, you should:

• Invest deeply in preferred activities

• Demonstrate responsibility and commitment

• Set a goal for leadership skill development

• Try and new activity that is outside of your comfort zone

Begin to Craft a Resume

Your resume reflects activities outside the classroom, honors and accomplishments throughout high school. Your resume should include each activity, your title or position in that activity, the hours per week or year you participated in the activity, and a description of the activity and your responsibilities. Start off listing everything you do and edit later. Keeping track of your involvements from the beginning will ensure that you do not forget anything of important when it comes time to complete college, internship or job applications.