BY RACHEL CITRIN

Junior and senior year of high school can be very stressful. The SAT, ACT, college essays, teacher recommendations, scholarships, the list goes on and on. Just thinking about it is horrifying, right? Luckily, Grady High School is fortunate to have a wonderful resource: the College and Communications Center (CCC) that has helped to keep my sanity in check.

When I first heard about the CCC, I was a bit skeptical and did not pay too much attention to the resources it offers. After becoming a CCC ambassador, however, I realized that first impressions are indeed deceiving.

As a CCC ambassador, I got to experience first-hand the great services that the CCC provides. By the time senior year arrived, I was armed with a resume that I created with the help of some of the CCC volunteers (mostly parents of Grady students or Grady alumni). Dawn Killenberg, was especially instrumental in helping students and devoted a lot of time and energy in volunteering in the CCC. She helped to encourage students to attend college visits to schools and to consider a variety of options in colleges when applying. One of our roles as CCC ambassadors was to go to different homerooms to share important deadlines and college options for students. This program was great for many reasons including educating students who may not have known about important deadlines or college options.

The CCC also has a wealth of resources. The cheerful and organized room, located next to Mr. Rives’ room, is filled with books listing schools for every type of student as well as binders filled with information about summer programs, internships, and scholarships. These books have been extremely helpful and have allowed me to narrow the list of schools that I plan to apply to. I can credit the CCC with helping me to keep on top of things.

Additionally, the CCC volunteers are incredibly helpful and take the time to sit down and talk with students about different post-high school options based on that student’s interests, grades, and finances. They are also more than happy to read and discuss resumes and go over college essays with students. Having another pair of eyes (especially from people who are very familiar with the college application process) to read one’s essays can never hurt.

One of the best parts of the CCC is its college visits. The CCC hosts college visits from a range of schools from all around the country. The visits are hosted during the lunch times and I have found these visits valuable as it gives one time to meet the admission officers responsible for our region, to ask vital questions related to that school, and to help one narrow down one’s school choices. I think that these visits are especially helpful to those who cannot find the time or resources to visit the colleges. The CCC lists the schools that are visiting on any particular week on a whiteboard outside its door, has the list of schools posted inside the CCC to allow students to sign up to attend a college visit information session, and also updates this information on its Facebook page.

With regard to its Facebook page, I think that everyone should join it as it helps one keep on top of different deadlines, interesting article links related to college applications, as well as scholarship information. This is a great way to give students updates so that they do not miss any application deadlines.

Grady is extremely lucky to have such a great resource at the tip of our fingers. I have heard that many counselors and students from private schools visit our CCC website because it is so helpful. I would have never have guessed how beneficial the CCC is, but during my time in Grady, I have been helped tremendously by it and have seen the lives of many of my friends changed because of it as well.