Kevin Canarte

2/1/18
Period 2

Junior year of high school is very important; if anything, it is the most important year
because of the fact that colleges will be looking at the grades we receive this year, so we, as
Juniors, must make sure to put absolutely all of our effort into being successful. One way we can
make sure we are successful this year is through taking a class called Junior Seminar. Junior
Seminar is a class that is meant to prepare students for Junior year, especially for the SATs, and
for college by giving them ways to research all types of colleges that they may like and / or be
eligible to attend. I believe that by taking Junior Seminar, we are being put on a path towards
success because it is a way to guide us to accomplishing our academic and post-secondary goals.
The first semester of Junior Seminar has definitely given me more insight on the different
colleges I am interested in attending, and whether I am eligible to attend or not. We were able to
find the information we were looking for on colleges through websites and graphic organizers
which, in my opinion, really did make a difference on the quantity of information I was able to
find. Another way Junior Seminar has helped me so far is by preparing me for the SATs. This
course has helped me understand what to expect on the real SATs by testing my skills and
helping me improve them. The first semester of Junior Seminar has also helped me find a more
clear goal on what future career I would like to pursue as an adult.

College is a very important part of our education because it helps us find a clearer path to
pursue our dream careers and live an organized life with many opportunities. Junior Seminar
may be a small part of my life, but I think it still plays a huge part in what my future could
potentially hold. I believe this is true because so far, I have learned so much in this class about
what colleges look for in students, financial situations, scholarships, and more. For example, we
have been taught about the seemingly endless types of scholarships that are out there for us
students to receive, and more importantly, how we can receive them. Very recently, about last
week, we were given an assignment that had us go onto a few different websites that offered
chances to win free scholarships, which I think was a great way to seek out scholarships that are
offering money to students. This method is very helpful and has really given me more insight on
how there are several ways to be successful by finding tools that can help us as students to reach
our goals.
Another way that Junior Seminar has been helpful to me is that it has helped me find out which
colleges are fitting for me as a student and a person. It has done this by having a college fair day
where representatives came to our school and gave us answers to personal questions we had
about the colleges we were interested in. I think this activity was informal and has helped me get
to know more about the staff and the actual colleges.
 The SAT is a vital part of what makes Junior year so important. The SAT is a way to
show colleges our level of knowledge and to help the colleges rank students based on the scores
they receive on the SATs. Some colleges don’t look at these scores, but it is still information that
is available for these colleges to look into for more information. Junior Seminar has helped me
prepare for the SAT through a website called Khanacademy.org. This website has helped build
my testing skills and has helped me understand what to expect on the real SATs.