Woodgrove seniors attending college, in state or out of state, often experience a strange culture shock when leaving their hometown for the next chapter in their journey. The Loudoun County school system (LCPS) has provided these alumni with vibrant experiences, extensive opportunities, and room for growth. However, many young adults learn important lessons outside the Loudoun County bubble, and these new lessons and eye opening events are the first steps into the adult world.
Woodgrove High School has carried its current seniors through their 1.5 million minutes, and will continue them through their last 500,000 minutes, to set them up for their futures. Loudoun County molds its students to become the best they can be, but is it preparing them for leaving its comfort? “Truthfully, not really. A lot of the things we do are Loudoun County based,” explained Olivia Van Der Post, a current senior who is only applying to out-of-state schools but feels that Loudoun is focusing its resources towards in-state options.
Sam Parsons, a current senior who is only applying to trade schools outside of Virginia, expressed, “I feel like Woodgrove hasn’t fully prepared me to go into the trades after school, but they have helped with the application process. They don’t really advertise trade schools as much as they do four year colleges.” Parsons explained that he wishes Woodgrove would provide more information about trade schools and what it looks like going down that path.
Along with current seniors, Woodgrove also has some outstanding alumni. These alumni stay close, travel around the country, and a select few travel the world. Many students felt that getting into college was the easy part. Students felt prepared heading into their first few weeks of college. A current freshman at North Carolina State University, Spencer Rose, stated, “Yes, Woodgrove prepared us by teaching us work ethic. This work ethic has made it much easier to transition into college and the workload that comes with it.” Along with Rose, Noah Ubial, a current freshman at Penn State University, agreed, stating, “Yes, it did. Loudoun County has a diverse amount of experiences. With that being said, I feel that it does miss a couple things with other cultures across the country.”
Loudoun County is a continually impressive system which allows students Advanced Placement and Dual Enrollment options, but can also be considered “a bubble.” Being the wealthiest county, Loudoun can be a sheltered community with its own culture. “It’s such a bubble and I feel you don’t really get exposed to other ways of life as much. Living in a city, especially, you get to see such a range of wealth levels and I don’t think you are exposed as much to that in Loudoun County,” expressed Molly McPhillips, a Woodgrove alumni who continued on to college in France, experiencing life outside “the bubble” to the extreme.
Reasons for leaving “the bubble” varies among students. Sam Parsons attends the Academies of Loudoun, which has allowed him to have a more hands-on experience. Olivia Van Der Post, in the midst of applying to solely out-of-state colleges, considers the Loudoun education to be set up for in-state options. Regardless of how the bubble has shaped or sheltered its students, Woodgrove has allowed for opportunity to flourish within each student’s two million minutes.