THURSDAY, MAY 19, 2011

The journey to graduation has reached its conclusion

Matt SmithTimes Staff Writer

Expectation hung heavy in the air as Keanan Garnes sat at the dinner table with his mother, father and step-dad one early spring afternoon in Gunnison.

A f t e r m o n t h s o f weighing his college options — c r u n c h -ing the num-bers, traveling out of state for visits and talk-ing to count-less coaches, counselors and admissions per-sonnel — it was time to make a decision. A long list of schools had been pruned down to two places for the past two months, but just one college would make the cut.

“Well, I’ve been thinking a lot about what you guys have been telling me and I’ve decided I’m going to Mesa (State),” said

Keanan. The thick tension looming

over the room was immediately washed away. There were cheers from mom, a few loud claps from dad and an overall look of relief upon everyone’s face.

“A lot of it had to do with how coach (Joe) Ramunno presented himself and I really wanted to play for him,” added Keanan, who plans on playing football and walking

on to the track team at the four-year institution in Grand Junction. “I think I’ll fit in there.”

The Times has been following Keanan and two other seniors in Gunnison for the past three months of the journey. Along the way the three students have been documenting their daily lives on

a blog site, making it possible for outsiders to gain a glimpse into the exciting, and at times hectic, leap into individuality that takes place after gradu-ation.

It can be a stressful time for high school seniors everywhere, as they shed the confines of their childhood comforts and make a decision that

will steer the

course of their future adult lives.“A lot of other kids have

known where they wanted to go and he’s like,

‘ I don’t know why this is so

hard,’” said K e a n a n ’ s mom, Cindy

We l l s . “ I t shou ld be a

real ly excit ing part of his life, but

he’s always wanted to make sure he doesn’t

make the wrong deci-sion.”

To compound the issue, there’s a lot going on in the final semester of a high school career besides making a col-lege choice. There’s a graduation and a prom to plan for, sports to be played,

classes that still have to be finished and,

ultimately, daily lives that still have to be lived.

For Alexa Tutor — who is the senior class

president at Gunnison High in addition

to her long list of other responsibili-

ties — it’s been a juggling act.

“Al though my senior year

has turned out almost as I expect-

ed it would as far as school and sports go,

there have been many ups and downs to go

along with a great year ...,” Tutor blogged in early April.

“There is so much to do that

Life After 8

SENIOR SEMESTER

Illustration by Kelly Eisinger

6 • SENIOR SEMESTER • Thursday, May 19, 2011 Gunnison Country Times

GUEST COMMENTARY

Saying goodbye is not easy to doMy last day of high school was the

best worst day ever!Throughout the day, I had such

mixed feelings as I finished my finals. I felt like I was on an emotional roll-er coaster.

By the time I got my tests fin-ished and arrived at home, I com-p l e t e l y b ro k e down. My parents looked at me like I was crazy because I had been so excited and stressed all week to get my tests completed, and I so much wanted to be finished with high school. The funniest thing about my meltdown was that I was crying and laughing all at the same time.

The weeks leading up to gradua-tion have been so busy that it’s hard to believe high school is really over and that I’m really done. I’ve been studying nonstop for finals, orga-nizing graduation and Baccalaureate ceremonies, and checking out with all of my teachers.

As president of my class, I have felt the excitement of all the plan-ning for commencement. But, I also feel as though I’m just going through the motions and completing every-thing required of me, and I don’t think it will really sink in that I’m finished until that very last day when I walk across the stage and receive my diploma.

Who knows? Maybe it won’t actually seem real until that day in

August when I leave for college.Because basketball has been such a

huge part of my school career, I wait-ed until the last possible minute on my last day to turn in my uniform, as I couldn’t quite part with it and wasn’t ready to give that up.

My coaches have been such a huge influence on my life, so saying good-bye to competing in sports and to my basketball coaches — Coach Mick and Coach Cooper — and my vol-leyball coaches — Coach Benson and Coach Searle — is extremely diffi-cult. I have had awesome opportuni-ties with the sports programs in our school.

I am also very grateful to have got-ten a year in our new high school building. It’s such a great facility, and I hope that future students appreciate what an amazing facility they have and what a great learning environ-ment it is.

I wish to thank all of my teach-ers and staff from Gunnison School District, who have been such a big part of my life and who have believed in me and led me to the successes I have had. I feel like the Gunnison schools have prepared me well for what I face ahead.

Our community is so support-ive, and I couldn’t have done better attending a larger school or living in a different community. As ready as I am to move on, I know I will miss my school and this town. I am so proud to say that Gunnison is my hometown and always will be!

Gunnison is also home to a won-derful 4-H program. The opportuni-ties that I have had through 4-H and

the Get Your Goat Club with Ann Bertschy have allowed me to find my passion in working with animals.

Between my experiences with my Goat Club and the courses I have taken at GHS, I know I am prepared. Although it will be hard to say good-bye to my goats and all the people involved, I know I am ready to move on.

At this point, this weekend, I will actually walk across the stage and graduate from high school, get my diploma, enjoy my time at my gradu-ation party with family and friends, and then have one last hurrah with my classmates at Project Graduation. My next step will be to find out who my college roommate will be and attend the orientation program at Colorado State University to register for my classes.

As I move forward in my life and continue my journey, I would like to especially thank my family for always being there for me and supporting and loving me. Without them, get-ting through high school would have been almost impossible because of the many challenges that were brought my way.

I have enjoyed sharing my last senior semester with the Gunnison community, and I appreciate the opportunity that the staff at the Times has given me. As I close, I think of my four years in high school and my parting words which would be: If I had it to do all over, I would open my eyes and listen more to the advice that my family, friends, and teachers were giving me along the way.

Alexa Tutor

GHS SENIOR SURVEY

(30 participants)

1. After graduation will you be attend-ing… College: 26 Trade School: 2 Military: 1 Workforce: 0 Other: 1

2. Do you think Gunnison is a good place to live and grow up? Yes: 28 No: 2

3. Would you ever consider Gunnison your permanent home now or after college? Yes: 2 No: 5 Maybe: 4

4. Do you look forward to getting out of Gunnison? Yes: 23 No: 7

5. What would be your ideal place to live? Country: 4 Small Town: 12 Suburb: 9 Big City: 5

Where is your ideal place to live?

“East Coast” - Erin Guy“Colorado” - Nicole Follman, - Emera Danos“Somewhere in CO or CA???” - Lily Lambert“Maybe someday back in Gunnison” - Noah Blackwell“Here” - Hunter Boomershine“Flagstaff, Arizona” - Zach Roper“Right here, Gunnison is my home” - Nelle Foster“Washington” - Amberlynn White“Somewhere like Gunnison” - Stefan Whiting“Gunnison” - Elise Picard“California” - Dan Reinhardt“Denver” - Nicanor Garcia

Where/What will you be i

Mark MykolIn the army, on the ground.

Megan FuentesMarried and a

personal trainer.

Kirstie StahlneckerTeaching the first or

second grade.

Ayla MapesMarried to a mountain man

with yaks.

Brandon RoedderPGA Tour professional.

Zach RoperI’ll own my own dirt bike

shop.

Noah BlackwellRiding broncs in the PRCA.

Avery DobieAn x-ray technician

at a hospital.

Nicole Folman Working, married with

five kids.

Daniel A moun

killing

Gunnison Country Times Thursday, May 19, 2011 • SENIOR SEMESTER • 7

Guidance counselorshelp students make important decisions

Chris DickeyTimes Editor

Gunnison High School guid-ance counselors Mike Casey and Sara Lamar are on the front lines of helping students figure out “what comes next.”

If one thing is for certain in that decision-making process for teens, it’s that there is no lack of information about the available options. Casey has been at this for 25 years in Gunnison, and he says the explosion of on-line resources is one of the biggest changes he’s seen.

But this begs the question: Does the availability of more information, accessible at the tip of the fingers, lead to better deci-sion-making?

Casey isn’t so sure. “We’re assuming it’s easier

because they have more informa-tion,” he says. “But they have to sort through it all. It’s possible that it is harder to make those decisions.”

And possibly more stressful too.

“We’re asking the kids to think about it earlier, think about it

more and research it longer,” Casey continues. “It could mean that we as a system are putting more pressure on them. I hope not.”

Lamar, who works most close-ly with seniors, acknowledges that the decision of what to do after high school is so multi-faceted that it typically doesn’t come easy, regardless.

“In the background, they always have that, ‘Oh my God, I’m leaving home, too,’” she explains. “So I think deep down, they are a little scared.

“Most of them stress out about it, unfortunately.”

Lamar, who happens to be

pregnant with her first child, speaks about her senior stu-dents as if they are her kids. She believes in them and wants what’s best for them.

If a student who is having a particularly difficult day comes in to her office, sometimes Lamar just takes them on a little walk.

“I call myself an advocate, that is my role at the school,” she says. “We try to provide per-sonal, emotional, social and aca-demic support for students.”

Lamar is also occupied with the nitty-gritty details, especial-ly for college-bound seniors —

Determining what comes next Bridging the ‘GAP’Year away from school becoming more popular among high school grads

Matt SmithTimes Staff Writer

The path that students take from high school to college doesn’t have to be a direct one.

For Skyler Reinecke, a senior at the G u n n i s o n Valley School (GVS), a great leap into the unknown is s o m e t h i n g t h a t n e e d s to take place first. Once he receives his diplo-ma, he’ll be endeavoring in a concept that is gain-ing in popu-lar i ty : I t ’s called a “gap year.”

“It’s going to allow me to develop some d i f -ferent ideas about what I want to do,” said Skyler. “I think it’s about gain-ing an idea for what the broader world really has in store, instead of just what college immediately has to offer.”

For most of his high school career, Reinecke assumed that an immediate jump into higher education would be the natu-ral progression. It wasn’t until he began having more serious conversations with his parents — about what he wanted out of life — that he began to consider his alternatives.

While a great majority of high school parents have been stress-ing the importance of earning a college degree to their children, Carrie and Craig Reinecke were telling Skyler something quite the contrary: He didn’t have to go.

“The light bulb went off,” said Carrie, a graduate of Western State. “He was like, ‘Really, I don’t have to go?’”

Instead, Skyler is setting his sights on travel. For start-ers he’ll head off to Indonesia for a few weeks, with his uncle, then it’s on to Thailand for a short training stint at a culinary school.

The mission in filling the “gap” is to consider all the options that are out there, including colleges, while not tying himself down to any one idea.

While he is adamant that his intentions are to eventually enter college, Reinecke is also considering technical schools, the culinary arts and even vol-unteer health service.

“There’s a big playing field out there and I’m going to keep my options open,” said

Reinecke.Concern about taking such

a step before entering college is common, especially for high school guidance counselors. It’s the idea that if they don’t go immediately, life will get in the way and then they may never find the time to earn their degree.

“I think the important thing for kids making that decision is to have a plan,” said Mike Casey, a longtime counselor at Gunnison High (GHS). “Going to college immediately after high school isn’t for every-one, but they need to have a foundation for what will come instead.”

Carrie Reinecke has advo-cated all along to her son that college isn’t the only path that’s paved to success. She believes that finding a sense of purpose for being there is necessary before making the jump.

“ S o m e kids don’t h a v e t h e cho i c e t o m a k e t h e decision for themselves,” said Carrie. “ ( S k y l e r ) needs to fig-ure out what h e w a n t s to be doing before tak-ing that next s t e p a n d spending the money.”

According to a recent Denver Post

story, the number of students making the same decision as Skyler is growing. While a “gap year” was once something that only a handful of privileged kids could afford, it’s becoming a wise way to not waste time and money on a classic fresh-man flop.

For Rachael Sandhagen-Turner, a “gap year” allowed her to get out of her comfort zone. After graduating from GHS in 2009, she spent one year as a missionary in Atlanta, Ga., where she volunteered in an after-school program and at a food pantry.

Having recently finished her first year at Western State, she looks back on the experience as one that was essential to devel-oping the maturity and life skills needed in the college arena.

“I’d say that living in a dif-ferent community really helped me adapt to dorm life and get-ting used to having a room-mate,” said Sandhagen-Turner. “Overall, it’s having that differ-ent life experience and having a year of independence, away from the college version of inde-pendence.”

Skyler suffered a serious inju-ry during his junior year of high school that will delay him from graduating GVS this May. He expects to graduate after taking one summer course and expects that college is in his near future.

“There’s a misconception that I’m going to skip college com-pletely,” said Skyler. “If some-body offers me a job to be a CEO of a company somewhere in the Pacific, then I might skip college.”

“There’s a mis-conception that I’m going to skip college completely. If somebody offers me a job to be a CEO of a company somewhere in the Pacific, then I might skip college.”-Skyler Reinecke

Reinecke

in 10 years?

Mike SpalloneHollywood.

Kalae MillerA computer program writer.

Cadwell ntain man,g things.

Evan AyersPunting in the NFL.

Elise PicardOwn my own business in

Gunnison.

GHS counselors Mike Casey and Sara Lamar

Counselors 8

Lily LambertOwn 10 islands.

8 • SENIOR SEMESTER • Thursday, May 19, 2011 Gunnison Country Times

it gets a bit stressful at times, but I am hoping it will all turn out well and I’m excited for my an eventful spring!”

Tutor also narrowed down her options to two schools, the University of Wyoming and Colorado State. After visiting both campuses mul-tiple times and learning all that she could about each one’s animal sciences pro-grams, she chose Colorado State as her next stop.

For Skyler Reinecke, a senior at Gunnison Valley School, the choice led to a completely different res-olution (see related story on “Gap” years).

Seniors in Gunnison attended their last day of high school this past Friday and will walk the stage to receive their diplomas this coming Sunday. For most

it’s a bittersweet ending,

but it comes with a ticket to the free world.

To read more about the jour-ney the three seniors have taken in the Times’ senior semester project, visit gunnisontimes.

com.

Life After from page 5

(Above) After months of racking his brain to make a final decision, Gunnison High senior Keanan Garnes sat down with his mother, father and step-dad one early spring day in Gunnison to deliver the news of where he’ll be attending college this next fall.

which has traditionally been at least 80 percent of GHS’ graduating class. She’s the gate-keeper of most scholarship information. She assists with the college application process, and has written more than 20 letters of recommendation for students this year.

“They’re such awesome kids,” she says.

Due to distr ict budget cuts, Lamar’s position is actu-ally being eliminated for next school year. Both her and Casey emphasized that students will still be able to benefit from the services offered by GHS’ counseling center — including scholarship searches, applica-tion help and more.

Most colleges are experienc-ing increased demand, so Casey said that’s resulted in them becoming more selective. That means they’re more difficult to get into.

Another change that Lamar

has witnessed this year is that a larger portion of GHS seniors are pursuing vocational col-leges — for trades such as auto mechanics, electrical line work, heavy equipment oper-ating, etc.

Casey said you never know for sure if a student is making the right decision about what to do after high school. There’s always a bit of emotion that factors into such decisions.

He said some of his most rewarding career experiences are when a student who may have struggled in high school and then finds his or her niche — be it college or something else — and goes on to find much success.

“When they do reach grad-uation, our goal is to make sure they’re ready to move to the next level, whatever they choose that to be,” Casey sums up.

(Chris Dickey can be contact-ed at 970.641.1414 or editor@gunnisontimes.com)

Counselors from page 7

Alexa Tutor took several trips to visit the campuses of her two top colleges — CSU and Wyoming. She settled on CSU, seen here, where she plans on studying animal sciences, with ultimate plans on becoming a veterinarian.

Photos by Matt Smith

‘10/‘11

May the force be with you.

-obi-Wan kenobi

u.

SCENES FROMSCENES FROM