The air is crisp and filled with colorful leaves as this year’s seniors buckle down and begin their journey through the college application process. Such a life-changing experience marks the end of their childhood and is the first big stepping stone towards adulthood and the rest of their lives.

 Ryan LaTourrette, 12, shares his unique insight on the college search journey.

“I feel like I’ve had an experience [that’s] a lot different than many other people because I have three different types of careers I want to go into,” LaTourrette said. “[Those careers are] musical education, culinary [arts], or aerospace engineering.”

Searching for the perfect school can be hard because everyone wants to find the one that can skyrocket them into their perfect career. Jack Hickisch, 12, believes that the Colorado School of Mines, Montana State University or University of Colorado Boulder could help him achieve his goals.

“[I want to] major in mechanical engineering or maybe software,” Hickisch said. “[I want to be] some sort of engineer.”

From culinary school to engineering, the spectrum of dream colleges and careers is vast within Mountain Vista. The seniors have big aspirations and can’t wait to explore the world beyond high school, but some, like Kathryn Hall, 12, would like to leave behind a message to future seniors.

“Start early and actually get [the applications] done,” Hall said. “Don’t let [them] sit.”

Though the leaves continue to fall and winter’s bitter kiss creeps in, the seniors of Mountain Vista refuse to be discouraged in their journey to success. While not every senior plans to attend college, there are a few who have plans of what they want to do. Amanda Carroll, 12, is among them. 

“I really only have two [colleges] in mind and those are Arapahoe Community College and Texas A&M,” Carroll said. “[I want to go to ACC] so I can get all the basic classes out of the way so I don’t have to worry about [them] when I go to Texas A&M.”