Nova Highlands Latin School
|
November 2020
Roma |
Volume 4, Issue 2
Preparing for College as Highschoolers By: Marissa Mudd and Abi Bitner Many high schoolers struggle with the question of what they should be doing in preparation for college throughout high school. Even though as a freshman, sophomore, or even a junior, college can seem far away, it is crucial to begin the process as early as possible. HLS’ college counselor, Ms. Murray, wants students to know that while preparing for college is important, one of the most key things for success is not letting the preparation overwhelm you. For those of you who don’t know Ms. Murray, she has a college planning class with the senior’s once a week, teaches one AP literature and composition class, and is the school’s college counselor. In her college planning class, seniors spend an entire period working on applications, doing resume workshops, and practicing interviews. She attended college at Western Kentucky
University and majored in economics with a business management minor. She had also done some assistant teaching in college and discovered that she loved teaching and helping others. As a college counselor, when asked what she saw students stress about the most regarding the college process, Ms. Murray responded that the most common stress was due to choosing a list of schools to apply for and trying to obtain scholarships to pay for school. Her biggest advice for freshman and sophomores is to keep doing well in your classes. Even though this might sound somewhat basic, your GPA and test scores are really important when you apply to college, so freshman and sophomore years are crucial for getting a strong GPA. While grades are important, colleges look for wellrounded students. They want students involved in activities,
students who actively volunteer, and students who hold leadership roles. Thus, the other piece of advice Ms. Murray offered is to be involved in extracurricular activities. Students can begin by attending house meetings, showing up to school events, and volunteering in your community or church. Find one or two organizations you feel passionately about and become involved. As a college counselor, another aspect of Ms. Murray’s responsibilities are to work individually with students on filling out applications for colleges and scholarships. She edits and reviews student’s essays offering advice about what they could improve on to make the essay stronger, as well as helping students narrow down their list of colleges. Once students apply to colleges, Ms. Murray takes care of all the official documents that have to be
What’ s Up!? Your HLS Student Spotlight By: Steve and Gus S: Welcome back everybody! It seems our last article went so well, that they let us do it again! We’re back with new and improved questions. Today we have the honor of talking to 8th grader, Abby Kate Wallace. G: Hi Abby Kate! AK: Hi! S: Abby Kate, can I call you AK? Tell us a little about yourself. AK: Well, I’m in 8th grade, and I have 2 siblings. S: What’s your Favorite part of 8th grade so far?
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COVID Adjustments: Volleyball and Cross Country By: Lilly Pottlitzer, Carly Wheat, Justin Gilbert, Caleb Kang Sports at HLS this year have looked different from years past and cross country and volleyball are no exception. Not only has covid created many obstacles that teams and coaches have had to work around, but HLS is now a part of the KHSAA which is more competitive than the KCAA. Because HLS is in the midst of switching leagues, we are not able to participate in any postseason or state tournament across all sports. These changes and obstacles have created a fairly chaotic year, but our
HLS teams are persevering and performing exceptionally well. The varsity volleyball team battled all year long, and it paid off with a record of 4-4 against KHSAA opponents. This team had two fantastic seniors in Sydney Windhorst and Abi Bitner. When asked how this year’s seniors will be missed, Mary Kate Rohrer says, “Our seniors were a huge part of the team, we will miss them a ton, they were the biggest leaders on the team.” Unfortunately, the volleyball team’s season was cut short due
to Covid, and senior night was
canceled. Junior, Elli Bitner, describes the volleyball team as a “little family who have all bonded so well over the past few years.” When asked how the team shapes up next season, Elli says, “I think next season is going to be great! We will have four seniors, and we will have some pretty talented freshmen and sophomores.” The volleyball team seems to be in a great position to make some noise in the KHSAA next season. Continued on Page 5
AK: Um...I would probably say literature, having Mrs. Windhorst as a teacher. G: Ok, I was gonna ask you your favorite teacher, but you just answered that. Do you play any sports? AK: I play volleyball. S: Ooh! What’s your favorite position to play? AK: Probably outside or middle. G: I have to say I’m kind of a beast at volleyball myself. It’s basically like super intense hot potato, and I am a master of hot Continued on Page 3