For the Se­nior Class, the year is fin­ish­ing its last stages.

The last pieces of home­work and tests are be­ing turned in for fi­nal grade and re­view, ex­ams are at­tempted and com­pleted, and the all-​​so-​​very-​​important grad­u­a­tion cer­e­mony is on the mind of every grad­u­at­ing student.

Every­one is prepar­ing for the fu­ture of their lives, even if the clear course of ac­tion is nowhere in sight.

For a large per­cent­age of grad­u­at­ing se­niors, per­haps a ma­jor­ity, the ex­pec­ta­tion of at­tend­ing col­lege is the course of ac­tion be­ing taken as soon as high school is com­pleted, and the hope of at­tain­ing higher ed­u­ca­tion is a mo­ti­va­tor unto itself.

De­grees such as teach­ing, ac­coun­tant­ing, eco­nom­ics, etc. are all re­ceived from within the con­fines of a col­le­giate in­sti­tu­tion, and they pro­vide their hold­ers with chances of op­por­tu­nity in many white-​​collar re­lated fields that come with ac­cept­able pay and ben­e­fits. Re­ceiv­ing a de­gree al­most al­ways re­sults in the at­tain­ment of better-​​paying em­ploy­ment op­por­tu­ni­ties, a more sta­ble and se­cure stan­dard of liv­ing, and the pride of hav­ing a de­gree al­ways plays into the scheme of events as well. It does not come with­out its challenges.

Long hours of study, dif­fi­cult courses, ex­ams, and pa­pers, tu­ition and liv­ing costs, and the task of hav­ing to hold down em­ploy­ment if need be all present their re­spec­tive dif­fi­cul­ties. But for many grad­u­ates of high school, the ben­e­fits of col­lege out­weigh the risks, and the pos­si­bil­ity of hav­ing a bet­ter life that of­ten comes with hav­ing a de­gree serves to draw grad­u­at­ing stu­dents into the fold of uni­ver­sity and col­lege study.

For other grad­u­at­ing se­niors, col­lege does not present the best op­por­tu­nity for them, and in­stead they opt to go into tech­ni­cal schools and ap­pren­tice­ship pro­grams, which di­rectly en­roll and train grad­u­at­ing se­niors com­ing out of high school. In re­cent years, tech­ni­cal and la­bor fields of em­ploy­ment such as weld­ing, auto me­chan­ics, elec­tri­cal fields, etc. have ex­panded rapidly, and the pay that comes with these jobs has proved invit­ing as well, which serve as keen mo­ti­va­tors for grad­u­at­ing se­niors who pre­fer more hands-​​on job ex­pe­ri­ences and la­bor in con­trast to the more white-​​collar as­pect of college-​​related employment.

In ad­di­tion, the avail­abil­ity and wide­spread lo­ca­tion of tech­ni­cal and la­bor re­lated jobs also serve as prime mo­ti­va­tors for grad­u­at­ing se­niors, as they present a se­cure po­si­tion of em­ploy­ment, and in case of res­i­dency con­cerns, these type of jobs of­ten ex­ist in other lo­ca­tions, which makes for a con­vient and sta­ble ca­reer through­out one’s lifetime.

And for other grad­u­at­ing se­niors, a ca­reer or en­list­ment into the armed forces presents the best op­por­tu­nity for life be­yond high school, and it comes with its share of tri­als and ben­e­fits as well.

The honor of serv­ing one’s coun­try is an al­lur­ing value for many, and the abil­ity to see for­eign places, hav­ing higher ed­u­ca­tion sub­si­dized, de­cent pay, liv­ing con­di­tions, free health­care, and ex­tended ben­e­fits (such as fu­ture civil­ian em­ploy­ment op­por­tu­ni­ties) that come with be­ing a se­vice­man all serve to make many grad­u­at­ing se­niors choose the armed forces as their path of choice im­me­di­ately af­ter high school.

It does not come with­out im­por­tant risks. Long pe­ri­ods away from home, the pos­si­bil­ity of be­ing killed or se­ri­ously wounded, and the emo­tional li­a­bil­i­ties that come from be­ing in the mil­i­tary make for a truly chal­leng­ing and dif­fi­cult ca­reer or tem­po­rary en­list­ment choice, one that not every­one can han­dle in terms of phys­i­cal and emo­tional stress.

How­ever, the fi­nan­cial ben­e­fits and the pride of hav­ing served one’s coun­try in the armed forces make the mil­i­tary a highly re­spectable post-​​high school op­por­tu­nity, and en­tic­ing one as well.

No mat­ter which of these paths a se­nior takes af­ter high school, they all rep­re­sent an hon­or­able way of mak­ing a stan­dard­ized liv­ing in the im­me­di­ate fu­ture, and they all lead to­wards of road of re­spectable cit­i­zen­ship and job op­por­tu­ni­ties well be­yond life af­ter high school.