The early action deadline of November 1st is only a month away.  Naviance, CommonApp, recommendations, and essays all need to be finished by the deadline.  Elizabeth Ashford, a GHS senior, says “The college process is really stressful, but the idea of going to college is motivation enough to just push through”. 

Elizabeth hopes to attend George Mason University next fall and she feels well prepared to do so.  This is thanks to her impressive transcript and the help she is receiving from teachers, peers, parents, and counselors in order to get ahead.  

In order to further prepare herself, Elizabeth has been on college tours, talking to school representatives, and asking her teachers early on in the year if they would write her recommendations.  Therefore, she admits she feels more prepared than some of her peers. She suggests students ask their guidance counselors what they should do in order to get ahead, when having their meetings.  

Like Elizabeth, many students have been frequenting the guidance office.  There has been a revolving door in the office these past couple of weeks, but somehow Miss Sylvia keeps calm.  She says she can remain calm when the dozens of students come through the door each day because she thinks of herself as working in customer service at a business.  “Good business comes with making people feel good,” as she likes to say. 

Miss Sylvia does not just have the job making sure she can help the overwhelmed “regulars” who come in, but also has to maintain all the guidance counselors’ schedules.  She credits this to the scheduling program used called Microsoft Outlook because it makes it easy for her and the counselors to see all changes.  

“I am looking forward to the end of the college application process and getting excited for the start of college,” admits Elizabeth.