Words from the wise

Marilyn Ramirez, Copy Editor/Co-Editor-in-Chief

June 21, 2012

With the many questions juniors hold in regards to college and the application process, seniors held the Senior to Junior Q&A on June 8, in the DHS library. They provided aid to future applicants with the stressful decisions that come with applying for education after high school.

“This was an effort by the senior class as a whole,” Jan Bautista, 12, said. “Mrs. Campos also played a huge part with her experience and knowledge with financial aid.”

Instead of an assembly-like presentation, seniors held separate booths on different schools from the nation. Because the school year has drawn near to a close, and AP testing for seniors was put behind them, the upperclassmen felt that this would be a useful opportunity to talk to juniors about anything questions they had regarding college.

The nearby schools held more interest to students, such as Cal State Long Beach and UCLA. 18 universities were presented with 30 senior volunteers ready to offer advice to underclassmen on future processes for college.

“Coming here with what I thought I knew and getting an entirely different viewpoint really makes me feel more confident when I think about applying to UCLA next year,” Christian Gomez, 11, said.

Students went table from table, asking questions regarding scholarships, financial aid, sports, and the highly valued topic of admission rates. Senior Sophia Loumiotis explained to eleventh-graders about the balance between SAT scores and GPAs.

“If you have a not-too low GPA and a high SAT score, school’s are going to see that in a more positive light,” Loumiotis said. “Those two are the top things a school looks at, while extra-curricular activities are sort of a break-even point.”

Although this was only the first year that the Q&A was put into action, many juniors and other underclassmen left with higher confidence in preparation for the challenging journey of becoming seniors and applying for the life after high school: college. Hopefully next year, these participants will share what they gained while picking a road for their future journey.

About the Contributor

Marilyn Ramirez, Copy Editor/Co-Editor-in-Chief

For senior Marilyn Ramirez, newspaper is not only a class. No, for this young journalist, The Downey Legend is her inner voice, her happy, her passion, her future. Ramirez sets out to improve her writing ability with every new story, setting new goals for herself with the start of every deadline. She is currently the Copy Editor and Co-Editor-in-Chief on staff. She joined the online publication in order to gain experience in journalism; after studying at either UC Berkley or San Francisco State University, she is certain she will write for Time Magazine and develop a career in photojournalism. Ramirez plans on hiking through war-zones, or the jungles of Borneo in order to capture the beauty she wishes to documents. This journalist has no space in her agenda for anything less than extraordinary. When she is not writing stories or improving her photo and web layout skills, Ramirez enjoys spending time with her better half, Kyle Hudspeth. Like many others, she adores Disneyland and shopping . She might be found at her favorite drinks chain, The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, reading a book or making awkward conversation with strangers. She has an unbelievable amount of positive energy, which she utilizes in a myriad of activities from school work, to staff bonding, however, it is not so obnoxious, because it is balanced out with the right amount of sarcasm. Ramirez is a fast-paced, modern girl of sorts with a dedicated disposition; she is undoubtedly heading toward great heights.