As June approaches and graduation seems closer than ever, seniors of the Class of 2026 are beginning to finalize plans for a new chapter in their lives. From colleges ranging from one end of the United States to the other, the Class of 2026 has made their decisions on where the starting point of their new chapters are.
This year’s senior class college commitments extend to a wide range of schools. While many seniors, like Svetlana Alaverdova, who has committed to the University of California, Irvine, and Limar Hamolaila, who has committed to the University of California, Los Angeles, have chosen to stay close to home, some other seniors have committed to schools across the country. A senior named Railya Farakhova has committed to the Worcester Polytechnic Institute located all the way in Worcester, Massachusetts as an Aerospace and Astrophysics major. After talking to her about why she committed to WPI, Railya stated that, “WPI has a lot of great opportunities and great study abroad research. It is the great first step to later attending a larger graduate school in the future.” To add, when asked what she is most excited for, she emphasized, “The process of adapting to a new environment. Massachusetts is a completely different place to live in compared to California and finding my own place there will be exciting.”
While Railya will be traveling to Massachusetts to pursue a career in Aerospace, another senior, Nare Petrosyan, will be staying in California. Nare has committed to California State University, Northridge where she will head into the creative field of Fashion Design. As she stated, “I chose CSUN because I wanted to stay close to home, but still be able to do something that I enjoy, and Fashion Design is definitely one of them.”
Another senior that has decided to stay close to home is Ana Rikadze. Ana has committed to University of California, Los Angeles as a Microbiology, Immunology, & Molecular Genetics major. Ana gave advice to the upcoming senior Class of 2027. She stated, “It’s best to start as soon as possible. It’s important to start your PIQs (Personal Insight Questions) in the summer and do as much research as possible on the colleges you want to apply to.” Throughout our conversation, she could not stress enough the importance of utilizing resources and crafting PIQ’s and personal essays early. She stated how much easier the application process was when she returned to school in August knowing the most significant portions of her college application were close to complete.
Besides speaking to the few seniors I just mentioned, through short interviews I found out some of the most common and unique majors of the Class of 2026. Popular majors included biology, engineering, and business, while some unique ones included zoology, photography, creative writing, and kinesiology.
To add, throughout our conversations, I found out some seniors of the Class of 26 will be heading to a wide variety of states throughout the United States. For instance, Levi Edber will be traveling to Wisconsin where he will attend the University of Wisconsin–Madison, Jake Nunn will be going to New York where he will attend the Rochester Institute of Technology, Skylar Raineri will be journeying to Michigan where she will attend Michigan State University, and Gavin Allen will be traveling to Oregon where he will attend the University of Oregon.
As the commitment season comes to an end and the Class of 2026 will soon separate onto different campuses and career paths, it is without a doubt that the memories and experiences the class of 26 shared with one another will always keep them connected. Whether they are staying in California or heading across the states, the Class of 2026 will forever carry every moment they had in high school with them.
