After high school, there are various paths that students can take to either further their education or start their career. Some paths that students can take are: Going to a university, going to a community college, going to a technical school, going to a vocational school, enlisting in the armed forces, and working. Either way, there are no wrong choices that you can make after completing high school.

One option that students can take after high school is enlisting into military services. There are five branches that you can possibly join, which are: Marine Corps, Navy, Army, Airforce, and the U.S. Coast Guard. To first start off your enlistment, you must meet with a recruiter, take some standardized tests, and take some physical tests as well. Also, depending on your age, you may have to get a parent or a legal guardian’s signature for your enlistment. However, if you’re 18, then this won’t apply to your current situation.

Recently, Lincoln Lion Tales went to interview two seniors who enlisted into the U.S. Marine Corp, Anthony Tirado, and Salvador Sandoval. Both students have the same reason for joining the military, they feel patriotic and a duty to serve their country in the military. Then it happens to be that both Anthony and Salvador are close friends, they are planning to do the “buddy program” in the Marine Corps.

In the buddy program they will be sent to boot camp at the same time and will be in the same platoon. When asked on why  chose the Marines, Salvador said, “The Marines are the most competitive and toughest branch and I wanted to take the challenge of joining the toughest branch in the military.”

University in another state can be intimidating especially going right after high school, Ilyaas Sugal, a senior, is not just going to any other state but across the country to Providence, Rhode Island. Ilyaas is planning to attend Brown University in Rhode Island. Brown University is a prestigious Ivy League school and founded in 1764. Ilyaas is planning to pursue a career in Neurosurgery which could arguably be one of the most difficult careers to accomplish.

When asked why he chose to go out of state, he said, “I love California, it’s a great state, but if I leave I have a better opportunity to grow as an individual, I love my family and it’s going to be hard to leave them but I need to be me.”

Then Ilyaas explained his process on being accepted by Brown University, he said, “I’ve been working hard in high school taking APs, studying for the SAT, I applied to QuestBridge that also helped me get a good financial aid package its a full ride, then extra curricular activities and sports.” Ilyaas will be going to Brown University in a full ride scholarship, which means his expenses will be covered. This goes to show hard work pays off.

Another option that students can take after high school is going to a technical school (trade school). If you wanted to take a more hands-on approach, then trade school might be for you! However, students can actually take similar programs before completing high school such as: SVCTE.

One student who is currently attending SVCTE is, Brian Gonzalez, a senior, who is planning on continuing his technical career after high school. A few days ago, a member of Lincoln Lion Tales went to discuss with Brian about his plans after high school, here’s what he had to say. When interviewed of what career he was trying to pursue, he said, “I’m still not sure, but probably carpentry.”

Currently, Brian has been attending SVCTE as a way to further gain his knowledge on the carpentry business, and he’s been doing so from the beginning of the school year. When asked on what he wanted to tell future students who were considering trade school, he said, “If you are really interested in doing it, because even if you go to like technical school, like it’s not even bad, they still make pretty good money. So, I mean it’s just a just another option if you’re not willing to pursue college.”

Another option that students can take is by attending a university. One especially good way to do this is, by attending a university that is either local or stateside. Some examples of local and stateside universities are: San Jose State University, San Francisco University, Santa Clara University, UC Francisco, CSU East Bay, and many more! One student who decided to stay local was, David Mellin, a senior, who is also on Lincoln’s Varsity Football team. David has been accepted by CSU East Bay, a university that’s located in Hayward, California. David is hoping to pursue a career in law enforcement, however, he did say that he would broaden his options in case his plan didn’t work out.

When asked on why decided to stay local, David said, “It’s local and all I gotta do is hop on the freeway right over here and keep coming down for a little bit, and I can get there in twenty to thirty minutes.” Another reason that David provided for staying local was that he needed the support from his family, which is normal for most people who are attending college.