By Sean Stebbins ’19
This week, 398 Bellarmine students—the entire class of 2019—officially determined where they will be attending college. Though May 1st was the final date by which the senior class had to decide what university they want to attend, many seniors had made up their mind long in advance.
The anticipation of college decision time has been four years in the making, and many students were relieved to see it pass. “I knew where I was going a few weeks ago,” commented Zach Thorn ’19, who committed to St. Louis University, “but it was just nice to know where everyone else is going.”
Most seniors were informed of their college decisions in late March and early April and had just about a month to decide where they want to attend.
“It’s honestly just relieving,” said Evan Tsukahara ’19, who will be attending Cal Poly San Luis Obispo next year. “College decisions have definitely been a difficult time. Having our four years at Bellarmine come to an end as well as having to, like, say goodbye to long-time friends–that’s hard.”
Evan also mentioned how he was excited about the new opportunities available to him and his fellow students in the coming years. “I think everyone ‘comes of age’ eventually to leave home and follow something greater, and I think college is when that happens.”
Many seniors are wearing sweatshirts indicating where they will attend and can be seen across campus. Mrs. Murphy, one of Bellarmine’s college counselors, famously calls May 1st “buy the sweatshirt day” to celebrate the event.
The college counseling staff is now transitioning to juniors—the class of 2020—and will be advising them in the coming weeks and months about the college application process.
With the culmination of years of hard work in the form of college applications behind them, many seniors are excited to take on new experiences in the next stage of their academic careers.