Elizabeth Cavallari, Director of College Counseling

 

Incoming HRA ninth graders completing a group activity with cups in a classroom with college pennants on the wall

Incoming Upper Schoolers complete a collaborative activity during the college counseling session of their ninth-grade orientation

Ninth grade. Upper School. The beginning of a new chapter.

Nervous. Anxious. Excited. Maybe a little bit of all three.

At Hampton Roads Academy, the day before school starts, our freshmen come together for an orientation designed especially for them. Throughout the morning, they rotate through sessions on student life, the Honor Code, technology, and college counseling.

During this year’s college counseling session, we stressed a core belief that guides our team’s work: college counseling at HRA is for every student. We want our office to be a place where students can come to talk, ask questions, share something exciting, work through something difficult, or even just grab a cup of hot chocolate.

We also talked about how to start Upper School well. We use the acronym CATS: Curriculum, Activities, Testing, and Socialization.

Curriculum: Focus on learning, and the grades and increased rigor will follow. Work hard. Ask for help. Use the resources around you, including our Student Support Center. Be curious. Give yourself permission to learn from the things that don’t come easily.

Activities: Find things that excite you. Explore your interests. Try something new. You don’t need to join every club or play every sport. Find the activities that make you want to show up and be part of something. Volunteer and give back in ways that connect to the causes you care about.

Testing: Don’t let standardized testing become the focus of your Upper School experience. Learn good habits, understand the purpose of the tests, and know we have laid out plenty of time for you to practice and make thoughtful decisions about testing.

Socialization: Build community. Get to know people who aren’t exactly like you. Talk to adults. Read for fun, not just because it is assigned. Put down the phone and pick up a book or a magazine. Pay attention to the world around you. Put yourself in situations where you can learn from people with different experiences and perspectives.

Grow. Learn. Ask questions. Take chances. Seek out opportunities.

And perhaps most importantly, don’t rush through Upper School trying to become a college applicant.

Our job as a college-preparatory school is not simply to help students build a college application. It is to help them become the person behind that application.

We want to think beyond what a student will look like as a senior submitting applications. What will this student look like at 21? At 25? At 30?

Will they be curious? Will they know how to learn? Will they know how to build relationships and contribute to a community? Will they have the confidence to ask for help, the courage to try something new, and the desire to keep growing?

That is the bigger picture.

So, to our newest Upper Schoolers, we say welcome. You don’t need to have it all figured out. We are here to help.