On Wednesday, May 12, West High seniors celebrated making one of the biggest decisions of their lives: committing to a college. With seniors trickling in wearing college merch, they were greeted by a beautiful setup of balloons and offerings of goodies and snacks, and thus, Decision Day commenced. 

   As the College and Career Center prepared to celebrate its 6th annual Decision Day, everyone was curious to see how things would play out with the restrictions due to COVID-19. Faith Shortridge (12) attended the event unaware of what was to come: “I wasn’t sure what to expect actually because of the pandemic and I’d never heard anyone talk about how their experience was in past years, but I knew I didn’t want to miss out.”

   It was definitely something not many seniors wanted to miss, because other than the donuts and goodies, it was also a moment to reconvene with fellow seniors, as Shreshta Kumar (12) described: “I was able to talk to my friends after a long time and see where they were going, which made it worthwhile! Sure, it’s cool to see who’s going to be joining me at my school, but more than that, it was really nice to see all the different places/paths people were going on!” Seniors took this opportunity to bond with each other and reconnect, using their future plans as a means to celebrate together. 

   Decision Day is all about celebrating the big decision that many seniors make. 

   Faith Shortridge has committed to her dream school, UCLA, while majoring in Environmental Science. Other than feeling shocked, Shortridge also explained that “Being committed to a college has made my senioritis 10x worse but it’s also been one of the best reliefs of my life.” These next few weeks will be tough for many seniors as the end is nearer than ever. 

   Shreshta Kumar committed to UC Irvine. Kumar expressed, “UCI was my top choice because aside from it being a top-ranking public college, the close proximity to Torrance made it a quick and easy decision for me. As a school close to home, good for STEM, and in a good location, it was the perfect school for me!” After having committed to UCI, Kumar described how she feels: “It honestly feels amazing. After four years of hard work directed towards this moment, it feels so good to finally be over and done with high school…To be able to finally have a plan for the next four years is a huge relief for me.” This feeling of relief seemed like a commonality amongst many seniors as they’ve committed to their first future steps. 

   Caitlin Sao (12), who attended Decision Day as well, will be attending UC Davis with a major in Biological Sciences. She met people attending UCD before and during Decision Day, and finds it “comforting knowing that there will be people [she] know[s] attending the same school.” If anything, Decision Day definitely opened up opportunities for seniors to find a potential friend in their future endeavors. 

   For many seniors, after 4 years of hard work, this was a big day and one step closer to achieving their future dreams.