Seniors tackle college prep amid Helene recovery challenges

By Ed DiOrio

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    ASHEVILLE, North Carolina (WLOS) — Between college application deadlines and campus tours, Fall is a crucial time of year for high school seniors; however, Asheville students are facing another challenge: Helene recovery.

“I felt scared,” Asheville High School senior Greta Rosenthal told News13. “I felt really scared for college — I had met with a college counselor but have not really done anything yet.”

Rosenthal said that was how she felt before Helene, but, things didn’t improve after.

“What really stressed me out was my transcript,” Rosenthal said. “I was starting to look at these things with my counselor; I didn’t have them. School shut down and I couldn’t get them.”

“I did think about it the second day [after Helene],” AHS Senior Stella Slingsby said. “I was sitting here thinking I should get stuff done —I got a little restless. I was like ‘I’d love to have support and people to go talk to about college stuff,’ I didn’t have any of the resources that I would’ve if I were here.”

AHS teachers knew something had to be done quickly.

“We knew the [fall application] deadline was Oct. 1, for some schools and October 15th for a lot of schools,” AHS History Teacher Lizzie Rogers said.

“Our seniors got a two-day notice to know about this workshop,” AHS English Teacher Heidi Freeman. “It’s what we ended up calling bridge-learning activities; it bridges that gap between when we were out of school and when we came back.”

Counselors and Asheville High staff members said they were able to help nearly 100 seniors with the sessions.

“I didn’t realize across the board how many different issues the children were facing,” Freeman said. “They didn’t have mentors, feedback on essays, couldn’t touch base on transcripts, and they couldn’t access anything. Taking that stress off those students during that time was critical. A lot of them just couldn’t find space to do the work.”

“I think some students got more personal help than they would have in a normal year,” Rogers said when talking about her involvement. “I was an organizer. I also helped with essay writing and troubleshooting the common app.”

“It helped me with everything,” Rosenthal said. “I finally got my transcript and that was amazing. I did need a lot of help. I met some old teachers and other teachers that helped me.

Now that class is back for many districts, staff haven’t forgotten that students can always use a helping hand.

“Now, I’m still scared,” Rosenthal said. “But I’m also excited. Now I know that I have a chance in these colleges now that I’ve gotten the help I needed.”

Many North Carolina universities and colleges extended that early application deadline in the fall to help Seniors.

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