Tuesday, October 24th wasn’t like any other normal school day. From first to fourth period, each grade of students did different activities all relating to preparing for college and figuring out their career. Freshmen did several surveys, researched careers, listened to a counselor presentation, and completed a Naviance assessment. Sophomores and Juniors alike both did preparation testing, Sophomores taking the Pre-ACT, and Juniors taking the Pre-SAT. Both of these tests can display college readiness and are a sneak peek for underclassmen if they plan on applying to private colleges that offer the option or require such test scores to be submitted. The Seniors were provided links to Zoom meetings and websites that go over mental health, community college, career guidance, scholarships, and the financial aid process.
College and Career Day continued after lunch. During fifth period teachers were instructed to lead conversations about college, majors, jobs, and other related topics. Students also had the option to discuss said topics amongst their peers.
When sixth period rolled around, so did the briefcases and bags of different representatives from an array of colleges and fields. After being marked for attendance, students from their sixth period were able to go down to the breezeway to learn about various colleges, trade schools, first responder careers, military pathways, and jobs from a long line of colorful booths. Amidst the crowd of brochure passing and handshakes, students shared their thoughts on the event and what they were able to get out of it.
“I thought this event was really nice,” said freshman, Promise Odubanjo, “It helped a lot of my friends figure out where they want to go for the future. I believe more schools and programs should reach out to this school.”
“I thought it was really cool since it was a one-on-one experience,” Cristal Flores said, one Senior among many looking to add more colleges to their list and discover new opportunities. “People can tell you valuable information and answer your questions upfront rather than you having to look up and research the questions online yourself. I also really liked the stickers they handed out.”
Lastly, Kei Miyanishi, a Senior, found the event to be extremely valuable and talked about what he and other students derived from the event. “It opened up a lot of options for me because now I’m kind of considering joining the FBI. There are also really good colleges that are visiting here, such as Loyola Marymount University, where at first I was thinking about applying to this school for film, but now I’m very convinced. UC Irvine and UC Merced are very good schools that also visited Torrance High, I’ll be applying to those as well. Overall, this event was an awesome chance for kids to explore their options. I feel like at face value, when you’re not shown this kind of stuff, you might think there’s only one path for you, or keep the same five schools you want to go to, but looking at this you realize how much you can do. You can join the military, you can find a career, there’s a lot of trade schools, private schools, out-of-state schools, in-state schools. Today was a really good place to open up your peripheral.”
Preparing for life after high school can be daunting, but with Torrance High School looking out for students, kids can get a better idea of where they want to go and what they want to do. 
