Photo credit: Lila Stotland

Students and their families listen while Director of College Guidance Ivan Hauck presents during the Junior College Guidance Kick-Off in the Zeller Student Center. The event marked the start of the college guidance process for juniors and provided an overview of upcoming milestones and expectations. “I hope this event brings students and families together to help them reflect on the upcoming process,” Hauck said.

The college process does not begin with a sprint, but rather a starting line. For Archer juniors and their families, this moment arrives at the annual Junior College Kickoff  where guidance counselors officially wave the flag signaling the start of the journey.

Ivan Hauck and Susan McGuire, Archer’s current College Guidance team, hosted the 11th Grade College Guidance Kick Off for students and parents in the Zeller Student Center Tuesday, Jan. 13.

“The purpose is to bring students and families together to help them reflect on the upcoming college application process,” Hauck said. “More importantly, helping them think about the upcoming year and a half and how to have a purposeful high school experience.”

College preparation at Archer is intentionally spread out across all four years of upper school, Hauck said. Rather than focusing on a single moment, Hauck and McGuire encourage students to view the process as gradual and reflective. He said this approach allows students to build confidence and clarity over time.

“Each year is pivotal, just in different ways,” Hauck said. Eleventh grade is really the year that most students will have more time and space to really self-reflect, get to know themselves meaningfully and then think about what opportunities exist at Archer that fit those interests.”

He said younger grades lay the foundation for this work. The skills students develop in their first upper school years at Archer help shape how they approach the college process later on.

“In ninth and 10th grade, we focus more on the ICI — identity, community and impact —  and really just helping students to engage meaningfully at Archer,” Hauck said. “In 11th grade, there’s a little more direct focus especially because of the HD 11 class that we do where we do a lot of activities with self-exploration, researching colleges and universities and sharing and talking with each other.”

For many families, the night marked a shift from distant planning to real preparation. Maggie Crosby, mother to junior Lily Crosby, said she wants what is best for her child and is starting to feel the presence of college inching closer.

“It’s been something that seems so far away, but now all of a sudden, my heart is starting to race and it’s starting to feel real,” Maggie Crosby said. “You’re like, ‘Oh, it’s actually time to start preparing.’”

Students echoed both excitement and nerves throughout the evening. Lily Crosby said she found that reading two sample personal essays from anonymous Archer students was particularly helpful.

“It made the process feel very real,” Lily Crosby said. “That really resonated with me in the sense that it’s like ‘Oh, okay we’re actually doing this.’”

Junior Juliet Lukas said she has high stress levels while still wanting to enjoy her last two years at Archer. She said she is seeking direction as the process begins.

“College is a really stressful time for people,” Lukas said. “I’m hoping that it won’t be, and I just want some guidance right now.”

Hauck said he hopes students are able to be self-aware and  know themselves well enough to engage meaningfully with the community. He hopes both students and their families realize that the college application process is full of exciting opportunities.

“The college process is constantly changing,” Hauck said. “It can be a really rich, rewarding experience, both for the student and the family.”