Every year Harrisonburg High School has the opportunity to host Virginia College Application Week (VCAW), which provides all seniors with similar resources and opportunities in order to apply to at least one college. VCAW follows Super FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) Week, ECMC (Educational Credit Management Corporation ) College Night, and a financial aid presentation. VCAW will be the final college planning event provided by the high school this year.

Although the week seems mainly focused on seniors, counselors like Anda Weaver have been planning ways to include all of the student body and even many of the staff members.  

“We try to involve the whole school by having daily trivia questions, we kicked the week off with a college themed presentation during ELT and we played, College Lingo Bingo, and had a panel of students from JMU, BRCC, and Bridgewater. The sooner that 9,10, and 11th graders start learning and thinking about college the better,” Weaver said. “Also we involve the staff by posting signs by their classroom doors stating where they went to college in the hopes that students and teachers will talk about their experiences and so that students can make connections and ask teachers about their college journey.”

The benefits seniors receive from the week include the use of the computer lab to apply to their college of choice, along with the help of counselors, career coaches, and representatives from other schools like Blue Ridge Community College. To make an encouraging environment the administration focuses on making the process of applying festive. Seniors who apply are able to get their picture taken in the schools “photo booth” and it will be then posted on the bulletin board displayed in the lunch commons. All students also get a chance to win daily prizes through the trivia.

Although administration focuses on decreasing the stress of this week, it can end up bringing on a stressful dilemma as students get caught into the thought that the colleges they apply to will define their life. Senior Sarah Jackson understands those feelings but still appreciates the week’s opportunities.

“This week somewhat deflates the stress I might feel later in the year, but it also doesn’t. The week makes [leaving high school] a reality. It’s like, you have to do your applications so you can get into a college that you will go to next year. [Looking at it overall], it still just seems stressful,” Jackson said.

As one of the many helpers during the week teachers like Jay Blair feel the rush as they have to help students in multiple ways including providing information about their own college.

“College Week always happens in the middle of the rush to write college recommendations, so there is some overlap between the more general college-week discussion and the more specific and anxious application and acceptance discussions,” Blair said, “I try to remind [students] to breathe.  Kids sometimes get caught up in the idea that this process will set the trajectory for the rest of their lives. They feel a measure of pressure that is both counterproductive and out of balance with reality.  I tell the story about how I didn’t get into my first choice college when I first applied.  I applied again a year later as a sophomore and transferred.  So basically, I got to go to my dream school, just not in the right order.  This is not a do or die kind of thing. There will always be options.”