This essay was written during last fall's Allegheny Intermediate Unit gifted and talented journalistic writing and reporting apprenticeship taught by professor Helen Fallon at Point Park University.

High school students are some of the busiest people around. Steel Valley High School sophomore Nicole Salapa is no exception.

She participates in the high school Drama Club, Honors Choir and various other clubs and groups that meet after school. While balancing all this, Nicole is ranked first in the sophomore class, with a 4.3 QPA.

When asked if she worries about school, she surprisingly answers yes. "Some classes come very easy to me, like English, but others I have to work a little harder at," she says.

But just like most other high school students, one of Nicole's most significant concerns is her decision about college. Her most pressing decision is getting into a good college that will grant her a degree and the training she needs to find a job she loves.

Just because Nicole is a good student doesn't mean that she doesn't worry about getting into college. Just like all the other students applying for a school, the students who do well in school have many things to concern themselves with: Should they go to a state university or a private school? How will they know if the school's right for them? How will they pay for it? Who will be their roommates?

The one thing students in this position shouldn't be worried about is whether their high school is properly preparing them. Many students are afraid that once they get to college they will not be able to keep up with the other students. This causes them to fret and doubt their chances at surviving in the college world.

When students begin to look at colleges and universities, they usually turn to parents, teachers and other school administrators to help them make the right decision. Can they be sure that the same people who are helping them get into college are preparing them enough academically?

Twenty students at Steel Valley High School were asked if they thought their school was doing enough to prepare them for college. Their opinions differed greatly.

"Unless you take the harder classes that are offered, then I don't think you're going to get into a very good college," says Zach Edelmann, a sophomore.

Jacque Joll, a sophomore, agrees with Zach, saying that it is all up to the students. If they don't choose to do the work, then they shouldn't expect to have the grades that will get them into college.

The fact that students are placed in the classes with students who do not care about school upsets the interviewed students. Because those students disturb the class, the teachers have to spend the majority of time in class intervening in fights and controlling rowdy students. Instead of challenging all students in the classroom to learn more, they end up catering to the students who couldn't care less.

High school administrators should look at their schools and decide if they are doing enough to ensure their students a great education after they graduate.

Nicole knows that no matter how good or bad Steel Valley is at preparing its students for college, she will be able to make it work.

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