Macjournalism

Senior Elliana Rocap will be attending Colorado University at Boulder in the fall to major in biochemistry. After taking the AP Biology course at McCallum last year, Rocap knew she had found her passion.

“I chose biochemistry because I want to go into the medical field and I have always been really interested in biology,” Rocap said.

While knowing she wanted to go into the science or medical field, during her visit, Rocap attended a seminar, confirming her decision at CU Boulder.

“I chose CU Boulder because when I attended admitted students day I went to a seminar about the pre-health counseling and it was extremely comprehensive,” Rocap said.

After all the friendships she has formed and the lessons she’s learned, Rocap is excited for her next chapter in a new city.

“I am looking forward to meeting new people and living in a new place,” Rocap said. “But I am also nervous about starting over away from my friends and family in an unfamiliar city.”

Rocap is a three sport athlete in high school, majoring in dance, playing volleyball and running track. She plans to continue her passion for athletics in the future through the medical or science field.

“I plan to go to either medical school or [physical therapy] school and I hope to become a physical therapist or go into physical medicine and rehabilitation for athletes and dancers,” Rocap said.

While getting ready to end her senior year, Rocap reflects on the effects McCallum has had on her through her high school years, and how it has prepared her to start her freshman year at CU Boulder next fall.

“McCallum has prepared me by allowing me to learn how to manage my own schedule and conflicts,” Rocap said. “And the diversity brought from the fine arts program has really benefited me through the years and allowed me to meet so many amazing people.”

Caption by Piper Adair. Photo courtesy of Elliana Rocap.

In the fall, Sage Flowers will leave for Colorado State University. Her love for nature and the outdoors drew her to the college, and she hopes to be able to spend more time exploring the landscape.

“I’ve always loved being outdoors like hiking, biking, backpacking, all that stuff,” Flowers said. “After visiting a couple different places, when I went to Colorado State it just felt right. I could really see myself being here for the next four years.”

Colorado itself is a special place to Flowers, as she grew up going there with her family every summer.

“In my family it was never an issue planning a vacation because every summer we take a road trip to Colorado,” Flowers said. “So it kind of feels like a second home to me in a way.”

Even though Colorado may be comforting to Flowers, she still looks forward to the challenge of living on her own.

“I’ve never really known anything outside of living in Austin,” Flowers said. “I’m really excited to branch out and have an experience that might be uncomfortable, because that’s the time when you grow the most. In all honesty I’m most excited to find who I am outside of my home town.”

Flowers got in for bio-medical sciences, but has been debating switching her major to business. Her interest in bio-medical came from her fascination with sciences and wanting to go into STEM.

“During the college process I started realizing that I wanted to go into something in the STEM field, I just didn’t know what,” Flowers said. “I thought maybe psychology or physical therapy for a long time, so I picked bio-medical to really just be able to explore the STEM field before I pick specifically.”

Looking back, Flowers is most grateful for the community McCallum offered her in her time here.

“Coming from a school where I didn’t know many people, I was really nervous to come to McCallum and make new friends, but everyone here is so supportive and nice that I quickly found my people,” Flowers said. “I’m honestly really going to miss it.”

Caption by Zanna Allen. Photo courtesy of Sage Flowers.

Next spring, senior Chim Becker will attend the University of Texas at Austin after a semester at Austin Community College. Becker was always cognizant of UT, but wasn’t initially interested in attending. As time went on, though, she warmed up to the idea; now taking pride in her acceptance.

“I’ve definitely been aware of UT for a long time,” Becker said. “Being completely frank, I disliked UT for a long time because I just rejected the idea of staying in Texas, and I never really gave it any deeper thought. I didn’t want to give UT a chance, but as soon as I did, I started realizing how cool of a school it really is. I think it’s awesome that it’s considered one of the best public schools in the nation, and it definitely makes me happy that I get the opportunity to go to such a respected university.”

Becker recounts her experience in freshman year, saying that it helped set the tone for the rest of her year, and show her a strength she didn’t know she possessed.

“I was paralyzed freshman year, which definitely taught me a lot, it kind of showed me a strength that I didn't know I had, because I'd never been through something like that,” Becker said. “And I felt like that kind of set the tone for my high school experience because I feel like I've gone through a lot of stuff, whether it be like with my relationships or with, you know, my personal life that have kind of shown me a lot about what kind of things I'm able to sort of get through on my own.”

As a whole, Becker experienced a lot of challenges over the course of her high school career, but she believes that those challenges were necessary for her growth.

“I would say high school has probably been the hardest years of my life, but for a really good reason,” Becker said. “I feel like going through hard things is one of the best things that can happen to you, because it really shows yourself who you are. I also think throughout high school I've made a lot of mistakes.
I've screwed up a lot. High school teaches you a lot, learning from your mistakes is one of the big selling points of high school.”

Senior Charlotte Cross will be attending University of Tampa in the fall, where she will major in criminology. Cross chose this major, due to her interest in crime documentaries, which have fascinated her since she was young. However, Cross is keeping her mind open to other majors at Tampa in case she decides to switch to something more in the medical field.

“I’ve always been very interested in the psychology behind criminal behavior, so I wanted to start out by majoring in criminology,” Cross said. “I’m also considering majoring in nursing as well, since Tampa is known to have a good nursing program.”

Cross said that a big reason she chose Tampa was due to its proximity to the beach, where she looks forward to spending her free time aside from school. Cross also was looking for a smaller school where she could find smaller lectures and less chaotic environments.

“Tampa has a smaller and beautiful campus that’s right on the river bay and twenty minutes from the beach,” Cross said, “I’ve always really loved the beach and wanted to be near one during college.”

Cross thinks that her AP United States History class was a class that will prepare her well for college, due to the heavy course load and learning she did on her own. One thing she will miss about McCallum is the sense of community she’s found in the volleyball program, as well as seeing all of her friends everyday.

“The thing I’ll miss most about McCallum are my friends and the community,” Cross said. “I’m really going to miss the volleyball team and playing with all of my best friends.”

Caption by Sienna Martens. Photo courtesy of Charlotte Cross.