“We provide seniors with support and workshops for college applications, including guidance from teachers, counselors and peer tutoring,” said Becky Bjurtsen, College and Career specialist at Redwood. The College and Career Center provides students support through essay workshops, career speakers, diagnostic practice tests, college representative speakers, study abroad programs, scholarships, summer activities, jobs and more.
“We [Redwood] have 125 plus colleges visit our campus every fall. Those are the experts in college counseling because they’re actually the people who are helping students get into their schools,” Bjursten said.
Designed to support students throughout all four years of high school, the College and Career Center aims to ensure that every student, especially those who may not have access to private resources, feel supported throughout opportunities and programs within school and beyond. “Every student receives a schedule, typically spanning three to four years, to help them become eligible for UC and Cal State schools,” Bjursten said.
Specifically for juniors in high school, the college application process starts to amplify during the spring semester.
“Here on campus for juniors, we have a huge spring workshop selection for helping our juniors figure out how to navigate that process,” Bjursten said.
Even more, the College and Career Center works more directly with students during the first few months of their senior year.
“Becky has helped me a lot with preparing my applications and organizing deadlines,” Senior Brooke Denler said. “She made the whole process feel a lot less stressful and overwhelming.”
“For our seniors, we do a lot of support workshops around the entire college application process, including two SMART [free work periods] sessions every single week the entire fall [semester] to help with applications, essays, questions and lists and financial aid,” Bjursten said.
However, the College and Career Center also emphasizes that college isn’t the only path open to students after high school.
“There are many paths after high school. Many of those paths will include college,” Bjursten said. “Some students take a gap year, attend community college or go directly into career-focused programs like firefighting or electrical work.”
Bjursten works to avoid the pressure of needing to attend a four-year college, by recognizing the multiple other opportunities and experiences available for students after high school.
“Becky helped me realize I didn’t have to have everything figured out around a four-year college. She showed me how many different paths there are, and how many schools there are to choose from.” Denler said.
“We provide seniors with support and workshops for college applications, including guidance from teachers, counselors and peer tutoring. We also have SMART periods where students can get extra help from teachers,” Bjursten said.
“I always know I have so much support from the College and Career Center.” Denler said
The prevalence of understanding how the college application process works is important, and a student’s background and personal experiences are heavily influenced in this procedure.
“It’s important for many reasons, and colleges also consider it very important,” Bjursten said. “They want to understand a student’s background.”
Additionally, exposing students to representatives at colleges and universities will help students become educated on the college application process while also allowing them to refine their applications based on the advice given from representatives. “For example, regarding our college visits, if you found one visit valuable, it would help you understand the entire process and how to maximize your opportunities,” Bjursten said.
The College and Career center offers a lot of help to students who are preparing for the future. Taking advantage of this support is the best way to make sure no opportunities are missed. This help is crucial to making sure every student is ready to apply for college and other careers.
