Thinking about life after high school is very stress inducing. After spending 13-15 years of your life in school, what are you supposed to do? Some people go to college and continue their education, some join the military, and some people join the workforce. I talked to 3 Capital High School graduates and these are their stories.

Simon graduated Capital in 2020 at the beginning of Covid 19. During his high school years, he wanted to pursue firefighting, but instead he found a passion for nursing. He is currently enrolled in an online college, which is what a lot of students are expecting due to Covid 19. He still enjoys volunteer firefighting and coaching baseball. His advice to upcoming high school graduates is to “believe in yourself, you can do more than you think you can.”

Source: https://vocal.media

Cecilio graduated  from Capital High School in 2019, he had no clue in the world what he wanted to do. He looked through all of his options and weighed them equally as they came, and went in the direction that felt right. He eventually decided on joining the army. “Covid didn’t really affect my enlistment, it was during basic training that Covid got really serious.” There he mainly cooks, he says the army has its ups and downs like any regular job but he loves the work. “My advice for senior graduates is to always trust yourself and it’s okay not to have a plan after high school as long as you can find your footing.”

Gabe graduated in 2020, like most students he didn’t know what he wanted to do, nothing felt right. Especially graduating through Covid 19, his world was in a tornado. “We kinda just had to roll with the punches.” He joined the workforce and is trying to find himself through different career paths. He just left Taco Bell and is now working a warehouse job so he can better support his newborn. “Keep ya head on straight, don’t let little stress break into your life and keep moving. Things will work out and life figures itself out.”

No one, truly no one, knows exactly what you want to do when you get out of high school. Whether or not you think you know, career paths change, and that’s 100% okay. One way or another you’ll figure yourself out. It just takes time and getting to know yourself and what you like to do. If you’re bouncing from job to job then that’s okay. We all start somewhere. College, military, and the workforce all have their equal ups and downs. It’s just about finding what you want to do, not what other people want you to do.