![After placing second in their respective LDEs at the Capital District contest in early November, freshman Jesus Jaramillo-Gallegos and freshman Wyatt Pickett will compete at the Area XII LDE contest in Georgetown on Nov. 23. Jaramillo-Gallegos is competing in Greenhand Spanish Creed Speaking, while Pickett’s LDE is Greenhand Creed Speaking. “Honestly, [I’m excited for] just traveling around, maybe meeting more people,” Jaramillo-Gallegos said. “And [I’m] nervous about probably just not being able to define my weak areas. I feel like I did decent for my first time ever doing this. I just think it’s fun.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Navy-and-Yellow-Simple-Group-Project-Presentation-1200x675.png)
![Holding up T-wolves, the tour group poses for a picture in the Chinese classroom. Sophomore Lydia Ou, junior Phu Trung and senior Yushan Pan gave a tour to Taiwanese diplomat Andrea Yang on Nov. 8. “I was so excited when I heard I would get to give the tour because it’s a big deal,” Ou said. “She’s from the US embassy for Taiwan, so she’s really important. I’m so privileged [to get this opportunity] and I’m so excited.” Photo by Skyler King](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Main-Taiwan.jpg)
![Sitting at a desk past the rows of books laid out for the Book Fair, senior Kimberley Walters assists people in purchasing books and finding titles. The Book Fair is taking place Dec. 16 through Dec. 20, and is an annual event during which students and faculty have the opportunity to go and purchase books and other trinkets in the library. Kimberley said she encourages all to go to the Book Fair, even if they think they don’t like to read. “If you make reading something that is fun for you and you find the things that you like to read, it will never be a chore,” Walters said. “So [the Book Fair is] a good opportunity to find something that will respark your want to read [like] when you were a child and you went to the book fair and you loved the ‘I survived’ books. Maybe you'll find your ‘I survived’ books of your high school experience, and it'll re-spark that kind of love for reading that may have died out.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Addie-L-47-1200x800.jpg)
![Smiling at the camera, sophomore Olivia Mahlmeister and seniors Samantha Jameson, Adhit Eswaramoorthi and Justin Khadavi celebrate completing first chamber in the Congress Meet. All four students advanced to the final chamber. “Out of the 20 kids in the final chamber, we had a seventh, ninth, 11th and 13th, and they took the top four to move on to state,” AP US History and Debate teacher Josh Marsh said. “[Even though] we didn't make state this year, all four of them moving on [and] placing is phenomenal.” Photo courtesy of Josh Marsh](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/2024-Regional-Congress-Team.jpg)
![Standing in front of a small audience, senior Kimberley Walters shares a social criticism poem titled “Pity the Nation” by Lawrence Felinghetti. Every month, sponsored by the poetry club, the library hosts a poetry reading. “I never thought I would be interested in [poetry readings] because I’m not the biggest poetry fan,” Walters said. “I think poetry is a very succinct way to express feelings and get a story across. Whereas lots of books have a span of a whole story, but it’s put in a lot of words. The power of poetry is that you can be so succinct within, and there’s a lot of power within the words that are used.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KIM-1200x800.jpg)
![Smiling at the camera, Author Ehigbor Okosun, members of Page Turners, and other students reflect on the author's visit. “I thought the visit was great,” Senior Amia De Leon said. “It was interesting talking to her and [getting to know] her process and her thoughts and books in general. But I think the reason it went well [was that] people got to ask questions. I'm glad that she said so much in response to the questions and it wasn't just one and done. [The author’s responses] felt very articulate.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Sebastian-5-1200x800.jpg)
![Holding the Grand Nationals trophies, drum majors Helashi Wijayawardhana, Abigail Pettey and Eddy Kim pose for a photo. The BOA Grand Nationals competition took place in Indianapolis on Nov. 14-17. “My favorite thing was just looking back at the field, and I was like, ‘Oh, crap. I know all of their names, I know who all of them are’,” Wijayawardahana said. “It's just insane to me that I was able to make so many connections. [Being a drum major] taught me how to build relationships with people who I’m not really that similar to, and how to juggle a ton of things all together.”
Photo courtesy of CPHS Band SmugMug](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/AJC.GrandNatsFinals-169-1200x801.jpg)
![Delicately placing the string to form the shape of a cornucopia, seniors Haley Burton and Avery Nelson create the November arrangement for the Flower of the Month Club. This club is led by Advanced Floral Design Students and provides a monthly arrangement to community members who subscribe to receive them. “I think flower of the month club is a really impactful way to show your loved ones ‘hey I really care about you,’ or even if they’re just for yourself, they’re a little pick-me-up throughout the month that [say] ‘I’m doing ok, and these flowers make my day a little bit brighter,” Nelson said. “I like giving people flowers because people value the flowers more and they value themselves more.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Ava-Holmes-3-edit.jpg)
![Standing in front of the field at a freshman football game, cheerleader freshman Jacob Gaudreau along with teammate freshman Bella Gibson pose for a photo during halftime of game. “[Cheer has] definitely given me a much more outgoing personality,” Gaudreau said. “I used to be very introverted, so it's definitely made me more extroverted towards people.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Ingrid-204-1200x800.jpg)
![Holding a wooden pizza toy, senior Taylor Peterson plays with small children in Bucaramanga, Colombia. During the summer, Peterson traveled to Colombia to help build an elementary school that only had two classrooms but five or six grades with one teacher. “We add[ed] two more classrooms,” Peterson said. “It’s kind of hard when you have two or three grades in one classroom and you only have one teacher. It’s very hard to actually get some beneficial learning. [The extra classrooms will give the students] a better quality of education because they’ll actually have a place specific for their learning.” Photo by Taylor Peterson](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Taylor-P.png)
![Sucking in a breath of air, freshman Lily Pope competes in the 200 yard individual medley. On Oct. 25, the swim team competed in the AISD Swim Invitational. Overall, the girls team took second place and the boys team came in eleventh. “My favorite stroke is butterfly because I do the best in that stroke,” Pope said. “I feel like [butterfly] can test how [your ability] to convince yourself to keep going. The hardest part of swimming is convincing yourself to stay strong and keep pushing during a hard race [when] everything is tired.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/POPE-1200x804.jpg)
![Swinging with his arm extended, senior Nolan Park hits the ball smoothly over the net and to the opponent’s side. Park is one of four varsity tennis captains and helped the team win district championships. “Winning district champs was a pretty awesome feeling,” Park said. “We had lost to Liberty Hill a couple of weeks before, but when we played them [again], we came out and really took care of business. We took them out and it was just a really awesome night.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Kassidy-419.jpg)
A Common Future
Seniors’ Top College Choices
![Senior Madelyn Roberts smiles in the snow as she holds her Colorado State memorabilia. Roberts chose to go out of state because of her interest in fashion and her admiration for the university. “I really wanted somewhere that was picturesque, [some place] that fits with my vintage style,” Roberts said. “I wanted somewhere where I could walk down to mainstreet and have a bunch at a cafe. Or go shopping. I’ll be a fashion major, and I have my own fashion Instagram [account] and I could just see myself pursuing these interests in Fort Collins.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/IMG_0351.jpg)
Photo Courtesy of Madelyn Roberts
Senior Madelyn Roberts smiles in the snow as she holds her Colorado State memorabilia. Roberts chose to go out of state because of her interest in fashion and her admiration for the university. “I really wanted somewhere that was picturesque, [some place] that fits with my vintage style,” Roberts said. “I wanted somewhere where I could walk down to mainstreet and have a bunch at a cafe. Or go shopping. I’ll be a fashion major, and I have my own fashion Instagram [account] and I could just see myself pursuing these interests in Fort Collins.”
February 18, 2022
Despite the rush of applying to colleges coming to an end, whispers of where to apply and what decisions were received can still be heard throughout the hallways. As students wrap up their decisions on college, the pressure only increases as they narrow down their future plans. A rush of admissions being sent out recently has only impacted the amount of students going to specific colleges and narrowed down the college choices for most students.
The top choices for in-state colleges were Texas A&M and University of Texas Austin, as both are renowned for their national and state rankings and academic opportunities for students. According to UT News, the news source for the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Texas at Austin ranks number ten in the top public universities in Texas. For senior Klaudia Mistzal, the research and academic opportunities are what makes UT Austin the best educational experience for her.
“I am majoring in psychology and UT has an amazing psychology program,” Mistzal said. “There are tons of research opportunities at UT, which is something I’m extremely interested in. Something very unique about UT is the Plan II Honors Program, which I plan on pursuing.”
For Misztal, interdisciplinary studies and research is crucial to her education. The variety of clubs and organizations also allow students like Misztal to explore their interests and develop their educational pathway. According to ThoughtCo, an educational blog, recreative interests are a big factor in choosing a college, as it is a big part of college life.
“I look for a college with many research opportunities, student organizations, and interdisciplinary opportunities,” Misztal said. “I think UT meets those requirements perfectly, due to the value they place on interdisciplinary studies and research and tons of clubs and organizations they offer. One of the organizations I’m excited to join is UT’s Women in Psychology. UT has a great pre-med program/pathway for psychology BS majors.”
On the other hand, Texas A&M is a college admired for its diversity and good programs as well. according to Forbes List, Texas A&M ranks 17th in the top Public Colleges in the nation. Additionally, it ranks 14th in US Research Universities, according to the Research @Texas A&M. Senior Carlton Marcom, who will be involved in A&M’s biomedical science program, appreciates the college for its academic opportunities and diversity.
“There are so many opportunities here, and they have a great biomedical sciences school and program,” Marcom said. “The sports teams are incredible and the spirit of Aggieland is unlike anywhere else I’ve ever been to. It feels like my home away from home, and there are so many people here, and I love the diversity and community of College Station.”
While the general preference for college location is in-state, due to tuition costs, students who are really set on out of state colleges prefer out of state. Receiving benefits, such as scholarships, from out of state colleges is also a big push factor for students to go to out of state colleges. According to WithFrank, a blog that focuses specifically on the college application process, some colleges, such as the University of California, have cheaper out of state tuition than in-state tuition. However, applying to in-state tuition for out of state colleges is also an option, which senior Madelyn Roberts, who will be attending Colorado State University and majoring in Apparel Merchandising and Design, is going with.
“Personally, I think that it’s only worth going out of state if you’ve been set on going to a specific out of state college for a long time or if you’ve been awarded a substantial amount of scholarship money, because otherwise, it’s not worth spending that much money or going into that much debt,” Roberts said. “I personally am only going to be paying out of state tuition for only one year because my parents are moving to Colorado this summer, so I will be able to establish in-state residency and get in-state tuition for the last three years. If I didn’t have this option, I honestly wouldn’t even think about going to a school that I couldn’t get in-state tuition for.”
For Roberts, she said a good program for her interests is crucial to an ideal college. According to ThoughtCo, an educational blog, educational and recreational opportunities are a good factor for students to look for in colleges, and that’s what students like Roberts look for in college. However, the general feel of the campus also seems to be a deciding factor.
“I really wanted somewhere that was picturesque, [some place] that fits with my vintage style,” Roberts said. “I wanted somewhere where I could walk down to mainstreet and have a bunch at a cafe. Or go shopping. I’ll be a fashion major, and I have my own fashion Instagram [account] and I could just see myself pursuing these interests in Fort Collins.”
In-state or out of state, college admissions are coming in at full speed, and last minute decisions are still being made. While a lot of colleges have reached out, some are still yet to send out anything. Pursuing individual passions is something many students look forward to in college, and getting that overall experience as well.
