With graduation this week, many of the seniors are excited to be done with high school. However, some of them are still nervous about entering the “real world”. Some will attend four-year and two-year colleges, while others will be going straight into the workforce. 

“I have mixed feelings about graduating,” said senior Brayden Hutchcroft, “I’m excited to be done but it’s kind of sad that I won’t see everybody after graduation. I have been here my whole life, so it will be a big adjustment to move on to the next part of my life.” Brayden will be attending Northeast Iowa Community College, doing his first year of classes online. He plans to get a full-time job while he takes classes online for at least the first year. “I will live at home for the first year, and then see what I want to do after that. Once I have some money saved up, I want to get my own place somewhere,” said Brayden. 

Most of the seniors this year seem to have similar opinions about graduation as Brayden. “I am pretty excited to get into the real world, but it is a little nerve-racking,” added Dayton Udelhofen, who plans to go straight into the workforce after high school and live in an apartment with a friend. “It’s pretty exciting, but I don’t want to wish it all away. I’m excited to move on to the next chapter of my life, but it is sad that I won’t see most of my classmates anymore, and nerve-wracking that I will have to meet all new people in college,” said Emily Bierman. Emily will attend the University of Dubuque to study nursing and will live at home during college to save money. She also plans to get a part-time job drawing blood at Medical Associates during school. 

Ethan Kerkhoff is excited to take the next step in life, which is playing baseball at UW-Platteville. “It will take a lot of my time, but I think it will be a great experience for me,” said Ethan. Ethan will get a part-time job in college if he has time between class and baseball. He is majoring in Reclamation, and plans on being a wildlife conservationist after college. 

High school graduation is one of the largest milestones that people experience in life. Many students have mixed emotions because it is the true turning point from being a kid to becoming an adult. Not only do you have more responsibilities in life after school, but the decisions you make each day impact you greater than they did in high school.