As this semester reaches the end of its first quarter, seniors are beginning to prepare for their future outside of the school. While some are choosing to further their education through college or some other educational facility, others plan to simply go straight into work.

  Senior Kylee Creach plans to join the army to begin a life of traveling within the military.

  “I’m leaving July to begin my officer training at Missouri state,” Senior Kylee Creach said. “You have all of these people that are following you and they’re expecting you to know everything. It’s kind of scary.”

  A majority of students are moving on to a college – varying from in state and out of state universities.

  “I plan going going to Spartan College to get into their flight program to become a pilot,” Ryan Burks said. “I love heights, I love flying in planes. I just feel like I belong in the air.”

  “I plan on going to Mizzou or another college with a little more specialization in aerospace engineering,” Cody Wilson said. “I have always loved the vastness of space and the idea of space exploration. NASA is an obvious choice, but I really like Elon Musk and the potential that his companies have.”

  Somes students will be haggling between their college and their choice of work. Senior Mackenzie Hensley plans to attend Southwest Baptist University to pursue a career in elementary teaching.

  “I plan on working while going to college to pay off my student debt,” Hensley said. “The hardest part of that will be finding time to balance all of my responsibilities and keeping up my willpower to do it all.”

  Football coach and history teacher Jared Steenburgen also balanced work and education after graduation through his career in the military.

  “My older brother joined the marine corps so I just followed his footsteps,” Steenburgen said. “I did Satellite communications so a lot of it was maintaining and operating radios. Other days were spent working out and maintaining physical fitness.”

  Other students plan to do neither immediately following graduation. Senior Mariah Ethridge plans to take a gap year filled with resting and making money for college through her current part time job at Mcdonalds.

  “I chose to take a gap year because I’m so tired of school and I’d like to rest for awhile,” Ethridge said. “I think it’ll impact my career for the better because I’ll be more motivated to do my work and go to class.”

  Despite the various ways to continue with life after graduation, Hensley says regardless of whether a student chooses to work or go to college, there is one thing to keep in mind and that is for everybody to remember to follow their dreams.