By Thomas Pan ’14 Feature Editor

As the Seniors start to walk out the doors of Newark Academy, they leave behind a legacy and a supportive community. Although we wish them well, and aren’t even graduating, we also have another thought in the back of our minds: College.

These days, the college a student chooses to go to can determine a lot of their life, the same way Newark Academy does for us. With jobs becoming more scarce and foreign competition increasing, university studies are taking an important role in determining your future.

Frequently you’ll hear sophomores and juniors ask each other, “Where is he/she going again?” Sometimes obtaining as much information as possible turns into an obsession. Part of it is curiosity, but part of it seems to be for personal use. In response to this craze, `Trevor Williams ’13 points out that “parents spend more than a hundred thousand dollars for their children to go to a prep-school like Newark Academy. The general expectation is to raise their children’s chances of getting into a better college, and students have to always keep that in their minds.”

Sophomores and Juniors seem to try to constantly follow the footsteps of graduating seniors. They’ll pay close attention to what classes the seniors took, or what extra- curricular activities they have done. In short, these seniors become role models for the younger grades. Kenny Zhou ’13 says, “I think that all the seniors are very academically gifted, or gifted in various other ways, and by nature act as role models for our community at Newark Academy.”

However, there also is the question of which kids students should look up to. Seniors who go to more prestigious colleges seem to be the obvious choice. However, although college is a large part of a person’s future, it is not everything and a student’s choice shouldn’t be a judgment call on the character of that student. Zhou adds, “I don’t think a student should be judged on their college acceptance, but I think it’s inevitable that students who go to better schools tend to be thought of as more intelligent.” Williams  warns against jumping to conclusions: “in the college process there are so many factors outside of our control, like race, family financial situation, and how an admission officer was feeling that day, that really can jeopardize acceptances. Therefore, you really can’t judge someone based on their admissions.”

Another factor is the satisfaction of the seniors themselves. This year, a lot of underclassmen and the seniors themselves believe that the class deserved slightly better admissions. As in all things, there will always be seniors who are unhappy where they ended up and then there are also many seniors who completely love the school they’re going to. Priyam Parikh ’12, who is headed off to University of Southern California, is a mix. He says, “I am 80% satisfied since my dream was another school, but USC is still a great school and I’m overall happy.”

A lot of students are talking about surprising rejections and which kid deserved which school. However, Jake Faber ’14 has a slightly different opinion. He says, “Oftentimes, seniors are disappointed and confused with their results. Regardless, it means nothing to say who “deserved” a better school but rather who the school chose. In my opinion, you can be either satisfied with your admission or horrified but arguing if one ‘deserved’ it is irrelevant.”

College is a large part of Newark Academy, but it’s important that the community keeps things in perspective.  The four years of high school are a memorable period of time in a person’s life and they certainly shouldn’t be spent solely in preparation for the next step.