College is a topic talked about to no end in our school community. This is partly because our school’s identity as a college preparatory school and also the student body’s way of embracing forward thinking.

With thinking about college comes a bundle of questions, some geared towards excitement, anxiety, uncertainty, and everything in between.

One of the school’s best investments is its well-renowned college counseling department, to answer those questions and guide students toward success.

Through the summer college trips, college fairs, and those meetings during students’ precious activity period time, the college counselors have their fingerprints all over our transition to a college setting after graduation.

The four full time counselors, Robert Von Hagen, Amelia Mann, Alexandra Thackston, and Diane Tran have amassed over twenty years of experience at the college level and thirty years in high school. The department has expanded from three full time counselors to adding a fourth this year, Diane Tran.

In her first year in a high school setting, Tran believes her experience in college admissions prepared her for everything her current job entails. “I bring an understanding of what selective admission looks like and what colleges are looking for in a holistic sense, built on extracurricular contribution and in the classroom,” Tran said.

Tran sees her prior position in college as a great foundation to teach students about an ever changing college admissions process.

The counselors are proud of the relationship they have built with one another through collaboration and teamwork to best accommodate the students they serve. Thackston believes the best part about the department is its devotion to the students.

For her and the rest of the department, their favorite part of their job is definitely watching a student get into their dream school, which makes the whole process worth it.

Given our keen focus towards our futures, the college counselors here at our school may be our best tool going forward.