In your senior year, the AVID course will walk you through college applications. But Lucas Araya, class of 2026, states “ you can’t expect it just to all be done at school , you gotta do things on your own without someone telling you to do them.”
Lucas Araya is heading to UC Berkeley with an intended major in Nutrition and Metabolic Biology, and has some words of wisdom for Mission’s next class of seniors.
“[Fall semester of senior year] was definitely a lot of work,” Lucas recalls. College applications demand a lot of writing, but there are things you can do now to avoid stress in your senior year.
“I was working a little bit over the summer, getting familiar, and getting a start on PIQs. I feel like the best thing you could do is just get started on those drafts for PIQs,” states Lucas.
Even for those who can’t bring themselves to write, Lucas emphasizes the importance of a head-start: “If you don’t want to write, I get that, but you should at least become familiar with the application process, whether that be looking at schools, looking at the proms, or just brainstorming a bit – just doing anything to sort of get ahead and and give yourself less work come fall.”
When it comes to what specifically helped Lucas in his journey to being admitted, he highlights the activities list, which asks for up to 20 extracurricular activities. “I feel like that’s one of the most important parts of the application,” Lucas continues, “everyone says it, but really just get out there and do a lot of things. If you’re not an athlete, then join a lot of clubs, but I also really recommend joining a sports team, whether it be track, basketball, whatever.” After school sports are very possible, even during college applications – for Lucas, this looked like balancing being on the Basketball and Volleyball team.
For rising seniors choosing classes, Lucas simply suggests: “don’t take the easy way – take hard classes because those in progress grades do matter.” Lucas does not have any free periods this year.
College applications are a marathon, not a sprint, and Lucas emphasizes the importance of pushing through. For Lucas, this looked like treating the college applications as one of his last “grinds, before I go to college and I get to relax in summer,” Lucas explains, reminding himself “I only have one chance to do this, so just focus up and get it done.”
For those worried about the financial burden of attending college, Lucas assures that “AVID will expose you to a ton of help, whether it be help with FAFSA, exposure to scholarships, or whatever it needs to be,” adding “it’s their main mission to get you to be able to go to college.”
And lastly, while our senior year is coming to a close, yours may be just beginning; “one more year, bro,” states Lucas reflectively. “I feel like senior year is the most fun. Everyone says it, but it’s the last time you’re gonna be in high school, so you should just take advantage of it. And cherish those moments,” urges Lucas, giving his final piece of advice to those approaching their senior year.
