When freshman Axel Jimenez first heard about the field trip to two universities, he was excited to get a firsthand experience visiting university campuses.
“I’m really excited because it gives all students the opportunity to see different college campuses around California,” Jimenez said. “I believe that this is a good opportunity to help students observe their future campuses and start looking for colleges.”
Students from each grade will go on a field trip to two university campuses on Nov. 10. Freshmen and sophomores will visit California State University, Northridge (CSUN) and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Juniors will go to CSUN and California Institute of the Arts (CalArts), while seniors will visit Pepperdine University and CSUN. Underclassmen will share a bus, while juniors and seniors will be going in individual buses.
“The people that inspired me to get into this trip would all be based on my family members,” senior Gabriella Urteaga Galvez said. “They all have a lot of experience with anything in the medical field and that is where it really clicked and got me into medicine.”
Many high school students, especially juniors and seniors nearing graduation, experience pressure and challenges when choosing a major, as they often have limited time to make decisions regarding future careers. The trip will help them see a Cal State, UC and private school.
“When they tell me what I want to be when I grow up, I feel pressure,” junior Zarina Martirosyan said. “It took me so long to decide what I want to do. With my parents, they would always be on my back on what I want to be and how I don’t have enough time, you need to decide now.”
Counselor Virginia Morales came up with the idea for the field trips after asking different students around campus about how they would feel about a field trip to certain colleges or universities and began planning it out.
“I feel very proud of my students and pride in them being present and available on campus.” Morales said.
Students are not the only ones looking forward to the field trips. Principal Kimberly Figueroa-Oliveira hopes to have more trips like this in the future.
“The sky’s the limit,” Figueroa-Oliveira said. “We are able to do things that we thought we could never do, especially for first-generation Latinos. If we pause and think about how much our families have sacrificed to get us here, that in itself is inspirational.”
