By Bria Chappell

Life Beyond Lincoln High Part 2

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incoln High School students not only excel on the field or in the gym; Lincoln students are college bound.  As the deadline approaches for most prospective college freshmen to submit their statement of intent to register for certain schools, one will find that Lincoln has 101 seniors who have been accepted to four-year institutions. According to a Lincoln alumni Class of 1975, fifteen graduating seniors went to college that year.  It is evident that Lincoln is making advancements academically and preparing the Hornets for life beyond the Hive.

Class of 2012 seniors have been accepted into over 50 colleges or universities, including, UCLA, Georgetown University, Brown University, UC Berkeley, Tuskegee University, Howard University, and various CSUs. While many have chosen to stay closer to home by attending a California school, many others have chosen to go further from home, choosing schools on the east coast or the south.

“I am going to go to Tuskegee University (which is a historically black university, located in Tuskegee, Alabama) and I chose to go so far away from home because I want to meet different people and be in a new environment,” said college bound senior Anthony Hunt.

For many seniors, location was not the only factor in choosing their future school.  Many considered prestige, majors, organizations, and the inevitable factor of money. This year, another senior will be committing to an Ivy League school (Johanna Mejia, class of 2010, is currently a sophomore at Harvard) and many others are attending top tier institutions such as the highly ranked UCs and Georgetown University. Although we have student’s planning to attend Princeton Review’s top schools, many students have found comfort and satisfaction in smaller schools that will provide them with an exemplary education as well. These institutions include Bennett College, Oglethorpe University, and CSU San Marcos.

“I chose Brown (located in Providence, Rhode Island) because it is an Ivy League school, without the Ivy League feel. There is no fierce competition; it is more of a collaborative effort. Everyone I met there was friendly,” said senior Pedro Mota. “Brown’s open curriculum is amazing because you are not restricted to taking certain classes. At Brown, you have a lot of academic liberty.”

No matter the distance or prestige of the university, each student has expressed a common issue of paying for college.  Lincoln administration, teachers, staff, and parents have done all they can to ensure students are college bound in terms of academics and maturity. However, the question of financing a college education is recurring in students’ daily conversations. Since 1998, Lincoln has offered scholarship opportunities for college bound seniors. This year, they include the Willie James Jones Scholarship, Principal Scholarship, Counselor Leadership Scholarship, and the Monique Palmer Scholarship. These scholarship awards are available for seniors to apply to and the recipients of the awards will be announced at Senior Awards Night on June 5, in our theatre.   Many senior families are in hopes that scholarships like these will ease some the stress that comes along with financing higher education.

“For me, I didn’t think I was going to get to a UC or any other college, but with the resources and help that Lincoln has provided me, I know that it is possible,” said senior Tracy Narciso, who plans to attend UC Berkeley in the fall of 2012.

Narciso admits to hanging out with the wrong crowd freshman year and not making the best choices. However, she gradually began to grow apart from her friends that were pulling her down. In result, her grades also changed for the better. She even received an award in 2009, for her valuable contributions made to Lincoln High School.

As Narciso prepares to go to UC Berkeley in the fall, she leaves a few words of advice for high school students, “No matter what you are surrounded by and despite any obstacles you may face, you can achieve anything you put your mind to.”