August Lambert, an 11th grader at Collierville High School, shares his college decision process as a junior.
August plans to go to college “to pursue a career in veterinary medicine.” His high school focus area is agriculture. His top three choices of majors in college are biology, animal science, and biochemistry.
For college, August is leaning towards going to Mississippi State, but Tennessee and Texas A & M are also possible options. He is looking at those colleges “because they have vet school and agriculture or science programs.” “They also have over-grad vet school at the same place as where I’d attend undergrad. I want to stay in the south and stay in Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, or Texas,” August explains.
Luckily, his parents are supportive of him potentially going to these colleges. “They, especially my dad, want me to go to Mississippi State,” August says.
With college being a year and a half away, he is most excited for “getting to go somewhere else and try it.” “It’ll be a new experience,” August says. “I don’t want high school to be over.” He is dreading “having to start being independent.” He states, “I have to start paying for things myself and cleaning more.” If he were to go off to college right now, he would feel most unprepared for “tak[ing] care of [himself] entirely on [his] own.” He is most worried for “really hard classes” in college. He explains, “Like, if I walk into math or whatever and they say, ‘Do all this work,’… I hope I don’t have any classes like that!” As a junior, August already has senioritis. He calls it “end-of-the-year-itis.”
After college, he wants to go to vet school to become “a vet of some type.” “It would be cool to work with exotic animals, like zoo animals, like giraffes!” August says excitedly.
For college visits, August states, “I’ve been to Texas A & M, and I’ve been to Mississippi State. I signed up to tour Tennessee Knoxville. I sent my ACT score to Auburn, Mississippi State, and Tennessee. Mississippi State immediately responded and sent their website. Texas A & M invited me to the spring preview day. I want to study abroad. They sent me all that stuff, too.”
August concludes, “I need to figure out a place where I can see myself at for the next eight years (or longer if I have to specialize in something). That would be approaching 10-12 years (and that might not be all at Mississippi State or whichever undergrad school I choose).” Ultimately, August’s experience of the college decision process as a junior is mostly just visiting schools and envisioning himself at different places!
