By. Maren McNees

Graduating from AHS is an honor to most. Some students have their lives planned out, others don’t have a clue what they are going to do after they leave AHS. Paige Kennon is attending the University of Minnesota on the twin cities campus. Ian McNees is attending Central College in Pella, Iowa, and Ali Krogman is at the University of Iowa. These are just a few of the many students who graduated from AHS in 2012 and made the decision to further their educations at college.
Kennon misses everyone that she grew up with from AHS, but she loves the big-city astmosphere of college. Krogman misses all of the sporting events at AHS, and she thinks that college is awesome. McNees misses the lighter load of not writing tons of research papers at AHS, but he loves the people and the campus at Central. If they were able to change their AHS experience, Kennon says, “I would have taken more AP classes” and Krogman says, “I would have paid more attention in chemistry.”
If Kennon could have known something about her future a year ago, she wishes that she could have known what it was like to work and be a student at the same time. Krogman said that she wishes she was informed of what classes to take first semester. McNees said he wished he knew what career path he wanted to take.
AHS seniors might find themselves wondering what to do with their lives. Senior Taylor Jones knows that she wants to go to cosmetology school, but she isn’t quite sure where. Senior ReAnn Cappel is interested in occupational therapy, and she is also wondering where to go. These students know what they want to do, although many don’t.
Our AHS graduates have some advice for the 2013 seniors. “Go where you want to go. Don’t let friends, family or others determine where you want to go,” says Kennon. Krogman says, “Go to college for the academics first, and all the extra things will come.” McNees says, “Don’t slack off your senior year. Take as many college credit courses as you can, especially if you want to go to a liberal arts school. It will make your life a lot easier.”
Visiting with past AHS graduates during winter break can help students answer the questions to prepare for college life. Do you have a question to ask past AHS grads? Post as a comment below and AHSneedle will find the answer.