On Monday, April 29th, 30 Malden High students had the opportunity to take a trip to Suffolk University in Downtown Boston for an informational session and tour of the school. The Holland house guidance counselor Kristy Magras and College & Career advisors Michelle Sun and Melissa Loftus supervised the students on the trip and rode the MBTA to the campus. Upon arrival, the students were greeted by two welcoming students who took the students on a tour of the campus.
After exploring the university buildings scattered around Downtown, such as the dorms, classrooms, dining halls, etc., students were taken into a presentation room where they were given an informational session on Suffolk and what Suffolk University looks for in a student. “I liked it a lot. I thought it was a good experience to see how college life will be even though as sophomores, we do have a lot of time left,” said sophomore Eldana Abrhame. However after the trip concluded, conversations among students spread on the issue of how Malden High educates students about college, “I think these experiences and opportunities should be made more known because unfortunately, many students have no idea that our school offers this. I myself was unaware until literally two days before the trip, I didn’t even know that our school offered any college trips,” expressed Abrhame.
Students explore the different buildings on campus while enjoying an informational session. DELINA YOHANNES
For many students, this was their first-ever college tour and their first time interacting with college students. As a result, many students began to feel as if they had been missing out on critical information and demonstrations about college and college life for so long. As informative and helpful as the tour was, many students expressed how they knew almost nothing about college and began to feel anxious. “Personally, my dad went to college in this country and went through the whole process so I can always lean on him for help, but it's not fair for the students who are the first in their families to go to college to go through the whole process almost all alone,” expressed sophomore Nour Howard who explained how all her friends are first-generation students who are extremely worried about the upcoming two years where college applications begin.
There’s no denying that Malden High has an abundance of students who if they choose to, would be the first in their families to attend college. Ensuring that all Malden High students can receive a proper glimpse of college is important to not only help students feel confident in their abilities to succeed after high school, but also to help students find possible career paths and alternate directions after high school other than a four-year institution. “If possible, having people coming in even alumni who can come in and explain what they do and give students a glimpse of what college and life in general is like for certain majors would be so beneficial. This could help students apply their passions to future careers and find what they want to do,” said Howard who plans to major in psychology but is nervous about picking the wrong major due to her lack of knowledge on it.
Although these proposals from students are certainly great ideas, there is only one College and Career Center at Malden High with only three advisors. In comparison to the almost 2,000 students that attend Malden High, it’s almost impossible for constant college trips or one-on-one conversations about college to occur. However, many sophomores and even freshmen feel as if senior students get prioritized. Although this makes sense due to seniors being the ones who are the closest to going to college, many students still feel as if it isn’t fair for underclassmen. “I personally feel like freshmen and sophomores aren’t taken as seriously compared to juniors and seniors. What I mean is that sometimes when I ask about college or voice my concerns I’m just told that I’m too young to worry about that and that I have time, but from what I’ve seen all that has done was create anxious juniors who don’t know much about college that wish that they would’ve asked earlier,” said sophomore Shahd Abdulghani.
Currently, almost all advisories are asking students for their opinions on how they liked the new addition to their schedules this year, as many discussions about altering the way advisory will be next year are being had among the administration. When asked by her advisor, Abdulghani proposed an interesting idea that she believes will strongly benefit her and the rest of the current sophomores as they move forward to junior year. “I feel like we should utilize advisory next year for college talk and base some lessons around the basics of how to apply to college and what’s good for college. The last thing that I want is to go into senior year and be clueless about the whole application process” expressed Abdulghani.
Overall, students continue to voice their opinions on what they feel the school can provide for them in terms of post-high school paths. While standing firm on their aspirations, students still understand how big Malden High is and that there would need to be more staff to fulfill their desires. “Even though it’ll be hard because we’re a big school, there are so many students that have questions that just go unanswered. As a student council member, I think we should have more funding, which is also something that all student councils have been discussing and are working on in order to help our counterparts feel secure in their journeys beyond high school,” said Abrhame who understands the circumstances and believes change is possible if students and administrators work together to offer students more guidance.
