Future Center helps with college applications, financial aid, and choosing a college
Photo by Mia Nogueira
Senior year: a year when time flies by, memories are made everyday, and the time to apply for college is drawing nearer. Seniors are deciding what colleges they want to apply to and rushing to fill out applications. All seniors know that this is the last year they will all be together. The bittersweet feeling is affecting the class of 2011.
Seniors face the most important questions of their high school careers during their last year: Where do I apply? What college is right for me? What should my major be? With the help of TJ’s Future Center every student can get answers to the questions to which they seek answers.
The Future Center is a room that captures the essence of college and gives a reality check to students that college is near. In the Future Center one can find a counselor who helps all the students as much as possible: Tabitha Rocha.
A graduate of Colorado State University, Rocha is someone who gets seniors started on the college applications. “I am the college and financial aid advisor at TJ. I help students apply for college, scholarships, and financial aid,” says Rocha. Anyone can find Rocha for help in the Future Center between 7:30 a.m. till 3:00 p.m. The Future Center is located in the main hall in room 114.
Rocha helps students answer questions having to do with college by sitting down with individual students and asking questions that help narrow down the search for a preferred university. “Right now, seniors should be focusing on applying to colleges online and looking in on scholarships. Students need to narrow down their search for a college, retake ACT or SAT exams, and get recommendation letters from teachers,” said Rocha.
Many seniors have already come into the Future Center to seek help. “Ms. Rocha has helped me decide which colleges better fit my interests and what colleges are right for me. She has also helped me fill out my college applications,” said Senior Jackie Lovato.
The Future Center holds college visits that allow students to take a deeper look at the programs that the colleges offer. Upcoming visits include: Colorado State University Pueblo on October 25th at 1 p.m., and Johnson & Wales University on November 16th at 9 a.m. To attend these visits make sure to register for them at naviance.com.
Naviance is a great resource for all students who want to get organized with colleges, when there are college visits that are upcoming, and select colleges that interest the student. The website has direct links to the colleges and to a variety of scholarship opportunities. This is like the Google search engine for colleges. To get the password for the search engine, students can go to their counselor and ask to be to signed up. “Naviance is a great resource for students; it organizes their college application process and allows students to get information from different colleges from one website. All students should use this,” said Rocha.
“The Future Center has guided me with the college applications. With the help of Ms. Rocha I got a grip on the application process and I now know that I am going in the right direction. I am confident that with her help I will have a better chance of getting accepted to colleges,” said Yiana Andrianakos, a Senior who frequently visits the Future Center to get help form Rocha.
