It is nearly the final countdown as the time until senior sunset for the class of 2023 at Central Kitsap High School narrows with the finale of senior year is quickly approaching them. The near end of senior year can become a very excitable yet bittersweet time for some seniors.

After high school, a majority of seniors will begin attending college either starting at a community college or 4 year university. When going to a four year university in the state of Washington, the most popular universities are the University of Washington, Washington State University, along with the private school of Gonzaga University in Spokane.

Senior Khazzi Villanueva has been applying to colleges since last summer and has aspirations of top national schools in her list like the University of Boston, University of Texas, Rice University and University of Miami. While she did get accepted into Boston University, the massive cost of going there could reach almost $80,000 a year to attend. She has decided to stay locally to attend her “safety”school, the University of Washington.

“I’m going to be attending Foster School of Business at the University of Washington in the fall,” Villanueva said. “The biggest thing that made me want to go to Washington was it didn’t really cost me anything. When I was applying to schools my dream schools were all super far away, but I think I kind of rocked my vision and it made me kind of overlook a lot of great things that UW offers because it is becoming a higher ranked school and it’s really good for research. It’s super close to home and it’s super cheap compared to the other options.”

Despite the University of Washington being the biggest and closest university to Central Kitsap by roughly 75 miles, many seniors decide to continue being a Cougar and go all the way east to Washington State University in Pullman, Washington, like Spencer Harader.

“I am attending Washington State University to major in business finance,” Spencer Harader said. “I was thinking about Montana State University for a long time for skiing, but then Washington State was cheaper. My parents went there and just had more connections around there.”

Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington is the biggest private university in Washington, known for their Jesuit traditions, one of the best graduate schools in the country, and stellar men’s basketball team. This has drawn seniors like Katy Topness to enroll at Gonzaga for all that the private university brings.

“I am attending Gonzaga University majoring in Business Marketing,” senior Katy Topness said. “I like their programs, location, and Jesuit traditions. Even though I’m not a Jesuit, I like the way that they teach. Both my grandparents went there, so I have some connections.”

Some seniors choose to move far away from the state of Washington to popular states on the west coast like California, Arizona, and Oregon for colleges not far away from some seniors. Senior Kennedy Threadgold has always wanted to go to a university in California that was affordable for her. Kennedy will be going to CSU Northridge next year in Los Angeles, California.

“After high school I’m attending California State University Northridge and I’m going to be majoring in psychology and hoping towards having a career in sports psychology after college,” senior Kennedy Threadgold said.

For some ambitious students, they have these “dream schools” in mind that they have been clamoring for even before they reach high school. The most common dream schools for seniors across the country are Ivy League level schools or other schools with challenging applications.

Senior Sophia Driskell for her college list had aspirations to top HBCUs (Historical Black Colleges or Universities) such as Howard University and Spelman College, and also the private Northeastern university in Boston. However, when she was accepted a full ride scholarship to attend Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia to pursue nursing in one of the best nursing programs in the country, she couldn’t refuse the once in a lifetime opportunity.

“I’m going to attend college at Emory University in Atlanta,” senior Sophia Driskell said. “They have a really good nursing and pre-med program which is what I want to do. I also really like the location, but mostly because they gave me a really good scholarship.”

Seniors have dream schools because of their love of their athletic sports, certain rankings of majors or programs within their university, the belief that going to a specific school will help them after college more than others, or even family ties to the university.

Senior Isabel Redd was excited to be accepted into Brigham Young University (BYU) in Provo, Utah because all of her family have either attended there or are currently attending BYU.

“All my family has gone there, my parents met there, and both of my older brothers attend there currently,” senior Isabel Redd said. “It’s kind of just a family thing. I just really want to be there because I like BYU. It was really exciting when I got in because a lot of people didn’t get in. So it just felt really good and exciting to get in.”

Isabel has grown up going to BYU sporting events and has fully embraced the college and Cougar way at BYU. After college she hopes to take a career in being an obstetrician gynecologist.

“Growing up I’ve been to BYU basketball games and I always wore BYU merchandise because that’s where my parents went,” Redd said. “It was just always a special school for me.”

When thinking about going to college, people sometimes have this negative misbelief about community colleges which are smaller and cheaper than traditional four year universities. Community colleges don’t have the same social college experience or acclaim as bigger universities or waves of people dreaming to go to the nearest community college but could benefit in the long run especially with student loan debt.

Senior Timothy Guier had acceptances for universities in Washington but ultimately decided to go to local Olympic Community College in Bremerton to escape the potential burden of student loan debt that many incoming college students that go to community college for two years then transfer to a four year university avoid.

“Financially for me it’s better to go to Olympic College,” Timothy Guier said. “I’ll go there for two years and straight up the WSU program. Once you transfer to the program that they have there for electrical engineering, I will have the bachelor’s degree and it would be half the price of what it would have actually cost if I went to WSU full time.”

The challenging part of going to community college could be the lack of social life that a four year university can provide with tens of thousands of undergraduate students, dozens of different fraternities and sororities, and a larger campus.

“The hardest part of going to Olympic College is not going with friends to the bigger universities,” Guier said. “So I won’t have the same experience, but they’ll be back every summer for a break every now and then. So I think I’ll be fine and I got some friends to stay here and do things with the shipyard.”

While a good portion of seniors move on to colleges next year, some decided to join the military or start working at a job directly after high school. Others decide to take a gap year to take a break from a normal school year, focus more on themselves and go to college when they feel ready instead of transitioning into more school after high school.

A lot of seniors’ favorite memories during senior year are the social aspects of going to sporting events like football games, dances, and events that don’t include actual schoolwork. Spencer’s favorite memories of senior year was being the captain of the CK golf team and being the ultimate supporter and right hand man for senior Aiden Brown during his soccer games.

“Probably going to all the boy’s soccer games and supporting my good friend Aiden Brown and being his number one fan,” Harader said.“Also being the captain of the varsity golf team.”

With the four years the class of 2023 have experienced, they can give some valuable advice for upcoming seniors next year. Some seniors suggest underclassmen that have most of their credits to take easier classes instead of taking rigorous AP classes for the last year of high school.

“Depending on who you are, if you are capable of doing it, do it but if you’re not, don’t fill your classes with all AP classes. Because you notice when you get senioritis and you have a whole bunch of AP classes and 16 AP tests the next day and a span of two weeks. They don’t go well and it’s not great,” Guier said.

The anxiety of applying to colleges and thinking about after high school plans during senior year can sometimes be overwhelming to plan especially as the senior year continues. Some advice to apply to colleges and scholarships early to not be left scrambling at the last minute of deadlines later into the year.

“Definitely apply to your colleges earlier and not the night before the deadline and maybe do early action application stuff,” Topness said. ” then you’re done sooner and you’re not into January trying to get that stuff done. Get those applications out early and have fun during senior year.”

High school for a lot of people can just be the schoolwork and going to their classes and afterwards going home. However there are many clubs and activities that anyone can join that can give you more opportunities to make friends and more enjoyable than just the everyday school day. Villanueva is pleased to have joined all sorts of extracurriculars and clubs within the school that can bring memories that can’t be forgotten.

“Take every opportunity you get in joining clubs because a lot of clubs you get to travel or join sports because you get to like to go on a lot of trips with the team,” Villanueva said. “High school is so much more than just school and I feel it is up to you to be able to make it memorable and to make it something that you’re going to smile at when you look back on your school. So I feel like I’m really glad that I joined so many extracurriculars and I was able to make so many of these memories.”

High school graduation is a moment that many seniors and families have dreamed about for years, especially seeing graduations from older siblings, television or movies, and on social media. Many seniors have mixed feelings and emotions about graduation with some going back and forth on how to feel about the surreal realization of graduating high school.

“It’s just weird, we have like a month left of school and I don’t feel like we have a month left,” senior Catherine Vlach said. “I go back and forth, some days I’m like, oh I can’t wait to be out of here. Then other days, I’m like wait this is kind of happening really fast. And I don’t know if I’m ready for this. So I don’t know how I’m gonna feel on the day of graduation. It’s just weird to be leading up to something that’s so big, but it’s not really.”

The sudden transition for most people to leave the school and memories they have known for four years and a lot of friends even longer can be a challenging thing to say goodbye to. However some seniors are more bound and ready to leave high school and start a new chapter in life.

“So for me, I’m tired of it,” Redd said.“I’m done and I don’t really care anymore and just want to go to college. I feel like I’m ready for the future and honestly tired of high school.”

The class of 2023 seniors at CK have experienced a rollercoaster of events of being the first class to start at the new CK school building in 2019 and the COVID pandemic and its aftermath. However, this class has persevered through those setbacks of losing out on a “normal” high school experience, and are now weeks away from graduating.

“Definitely was not the best, missing all of those like high school experiences,” said Driskell. “But I mean, I think that as a class we really grew from that and we’re just special in that way.”