Take a look at a select few of our seniors from the Class of 2023 and their various decisions in post-high school plans.

Skyla Kelleher (pictured right) is attending Northern Arizona University Flagstaff in the fall of 2023 to pursue a degree in Criminology and Criminal Justice. “I went down to Arizona around Christmas break and visited the school because they had been emailing me. And, I honestly fell in love with [it],” said Kelleher. Northern Arizona University holds a wide variety of impressive programs from forestry to sports science. Since she is looking into going into the police force after college, and perhaps even the K-9 unit, Kelleher saw Northern Arizona University as a good fit for her future plans. Kelleher is also currently in Palmer Ridge’s Career Start Program where she has acquired numerous credits for her Criminal Justice major. “Career Start will give me a little bit of a head start. I’ll have a lot of credits going into it and have a little bit more knowledge… So it won’t be as stressful,” she said. Kelleher is looking forward to Flagstaff’s familiar-feeling community, “It’s a lot like home so it probably won’t make me as homesick.”

Amelia Kulich plans to enlist in the Navy after graduating in May. “After high school, I’ll be shipped out to boot [camp]. From there they’ll send me to get training as a Hospital Corpsman for mental health in Texas for seven months.” With an emphasis on the health and medical field, Kulich found a special interest in the Navy since they have a “huge medical [branch]”. “Being an Air Force state, a lot of people will go Air Force. However, [the] Air Force stopped taking on medical. So, they didn’t really have anything for me after that,” said Kulich. In order to go straight from high school to enlisted, Kulich was required to take the ASVAB (Armed Forces Vocational Aptitude Battery), a test on basic knowledge covering topics such as general math, science, and physics. From there, Kulich was sent to Denver to retrieve and contract and get it signed and ready. “Now I’m just waiting to ship out,” she said. Among the many things being a Navy enlistee offers, Kulich is most excited for “the comradery… There is just something about the Navy, about the military in general, where it doesn’t matter what background you’re from or who you are… as long as you have my back, I have yours.” If you are interested in joining the military directly after high school, Kulich is happy to help you out.

Cole Wickert is looking forward to attending the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) this fall. For Wickert, this is not only an aspiration of his, but also a family tradition. “My dad was an alumni and my sister is there right now…It’s the premiere engineering university in the country, so it’s what I want to do.” Wickert has enrolled as a mechanical engineering major, but hopes “to do something with an emphasis on music as well.” Unsurprisingly, the application process into MIT is extremely rigorous. Upwards of thirteen optional essays (and four required), Wickert chose to write all thirteen in order to have the university see as much of him as possible. On top of this, Wickert is most excited about his future peers at MIT. “Everyone I’ve talked to is just phenomenal, and they’re all so incredibly smart and I’d love to learn from them,” he said. Not only this, but Wickert feels that MIT has an exceptional engineering department with “the best staff, best labs, and best research opportunities.” Overall, Wickert has found an incredible opportunity for his future and has even been granted an Air Force ROTC Scholarship to go with it.

Emily Miller plans to continue her academic career at Creighton University in the Fall of 2023. Creighton is located in Omaha, Nebraska and is known for its health sciences programs. “I chose there because I really like the small, medium-sized school and they also have a great medical and pharmacy program.” Miller visited Creighton in October 2022 to see the dorms and sit in on a class. Just this past February, Miller was able to attend Creighton’s Scholarship Day where she participated in multiple interviews and even met with a student in the pharmacy program. Not only was Miller was admitted into the Deans Fellow program, she was also accepted into the pre-professional pharmacy program which gives her a leg up into Creighton’s pharmacy school. “[The application process] was a little bit harder than other schools. I had to write an extra essay question and just a lot of waiting,” she said. Miller is excited for Creighton’s elite sports, with both men’s and women’s basketball placing as the sixth seed in March Madness. “The community and academics is something that I am looking for and most of the big, popular schools have that…I wanted a medium school so I’m glad I could find that level of academics with [Creighton].”

In the fall of 2023, Nate Sapp will be attending Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, otherwise known as WashU. Sapp is looking forward to studying mechanical engineering and jazz in the fall. “WashU stood out to me because. It’s excellent engineering and music programs as well as its flexibility in combining the two,” he said. While WashU’s application process was “pretty standard” for Sapp, he did decide to apply through the Early Decision pool. This meant that if he was accepted into the University of Washington in St. Louis, he is legally required to go there regardless of any other college offers. Sapp, along with other students who choose this route, submitted his application for Early Decision consideration knowing, undoubtedly, that he would attend WashU if accepted. Besides its exceptional academic programs, Sapp knew that WashU was the right fit for him when he visited the campus. “‘My parents and I flew out to tour and it just felt right. The campus was beautiful, everybody was beyond kind to us, and seemed incredibly happy to be there,” he said. Additionally, Sapp’s hard work in high school will pay off with the handful of AP credits he can carry over to the university.