“Building your Future Day” is something that all juniors at BSM participate in every year. On this day, students go around to different stations and start to prepare for the college application process. They are also given a packet with assignments, like getting teacher recommendations, that need to be completed for a pass/fail grade.

During the second semester of my junior year, “Building Your Future Day” and the work to do after it were not things that I wanted to do. However, reflecting back on during my senior year after the college application process, I realize that “Building Your Future Day” was actually very helpful.

Although I do think that this day is important, I don’t think that all of the assignments were necessary. For example, I had to create a résumé that I never ended up using for any of the colleges I applied to.

However, there were many parts of the packet that I found to be very beneficial. For example, I got the opportunity to do a job shadow at an environmental engineering firm, which was something I most likely would not have done if I didn’t have to. I think it is important to get teacher recommendations as early as possible, so getting them taken care of during junior year will help relieve stress for teachers and students next year when they are busy applying to schools.

I think learning about how to write college essays during this day was very helpful for applications. I wasn’t exactly sure what I needed to do for the essays, but the college reps who spoke to us gave me some ideas on topics to write about. One of my biggest regrets during the college application process was not starting any essays over the summer before senior year.

Getting a jump start on the Common App was also a huge help. I definitely wouldn’t have started it before senior year if I wasn’t required to, so in hindsight I am thankful for that. Filling in the information wasn’t difficult, but it was time consuming.

Overall, I think that “Building your Future Day” is very useful despite how annoying it is. I had to start many different parts of the college application process, and I wouldn’t have taken initiative on my own. In the long run, whether they realize it or not, students benefit from “Building your Future Day.”