Image from US Census Bureau
With this year’s seniors at Washington High School prepping to start the next phase of their lives, they all are united by the same set of concerns. The question: “Have you been applying for colleges?” lingers in each of their minds throughout the school year, and recent domestic factors have not helped with this overwhelming pressure.
WHS seniors have come to a consensus that the most difficult aspect of submitting the application is balancing it with all other activities and schoolwork. Most people don’t take into account the process of submitting the application and some wish they had more time. Senior Rhian Carrido, President of the Filipino Student Union and Vice President of Washington’s Mock Trial, expresses her concerns: “We shouldn’t do it when we’re seniors because you’re leaving out a whole semester of your school life. A lot of stuff can happen in one semester.”
Others, however, express a feeling of indifference. “I’m able to manage my time well when it comes to college apps, so I don’t have to worry about quitting other activities,” says Senior Divya Ayyagari, who has been an active member of the Girls Volleyball Team and WHS Deca over the past four years.
Handling expenses when starting college life is another area of concern. As of July 1, 2026, Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” will be enforced upon students who hope to take out a loan to assist their debt. The bill includes stricter borrowing limits, with the old PLUS program coming to a close, restricting students who are used to taking out a loan based on however much they are owed for grad school and instead implementing a lifetime limit of $100,000, $38,500 less than what it has been for the past 17 years.
Although most caps on loans and difficulties in borrowing money are catered towards students hoping to go to grad school, many have felt demotivated to reach their goals. Seniors here in Washington, with aspirations to head to medical school, law school, or any other higher education institution, are now extremely limited. They feel as if the government implements policies to further polarize the different wealth classes, which doesn’t allow one to grow in their career, leading them to wonder how “beautiful” this bill truly is.
“I mean, we’re trying to have an educated, white-collar society. That’s what America’s all about, right? But it’s counterproductive to be making loans harder to get at the same time,” Ayyagari says.
The decision to save money or risk financial security for their career remains a controversial topic for students. For many, however, the chances for students to receive scholarships and gain aid in other ways are worth it in the long run. According to the Public Policy Institute of California, workers that have a bachelor’s degree earn 61% more than those who only obtain a high school diploma on average, and those with a graduate degree earn 89% more.
As of right now, Seniors at Washington continue to push forward with their college applications. No matter the circumstances, they still persevere and want to meet the ambitions they have set out for themselves.
Gazelle Rahimi, currently a senior at Washington High School, was born and raised in the Bay Area, but she is ethnically from Afghanistan. This is her first year with The Hatchet, where she is excited to cover stories about students’ daily lives and how both the local and global news can affect it. While she has a passion for writing about social justice and activism, some of her other interests include baking, hiking, travelling with friends and family, and learning new languages. Her future plans include studying economics in college, before going off to grad school in the field she plans to pursue.