Senior year for the class of 2026 is coming to a close and the graduation date of May 21 is quickly approaching. Emotions ranging from sadness to excitement fill the halls as anticipation for the summer grows. At the same time, one reality is becoming more daunting by the day: college. 

The transition to college brings a great deal of uncertainty. Many seniors are left wondering and are in need of advice.  To help assuage concerns, Saint Ignatius alumni and current college freshmen, Sally Kennedy and Sasha Rayne, offered advice for the graduates of the class of 2026. 

Expect it to be hard… at first  

“If I could go back to my first week, I would tell myself to be patient and that everything will work out,” said Sally Kennedy, a freshman at the University of Notre Dame.

Although the catholic and rigorous environment of Notre Dame is similar to Saint Ignatius College Prep, where Kennedy graduated in 2025, she still had an adjustment period. 

For her, the hardest part was “not having a sport of practice after school. This used to be my outlet for stress, so it was hard to not have it as a part of my routine.” 

To overcome this, she turned to planning her own daily workouts and also joined intramurals, recommending overall to join clubs to keep yourself busy and create your own routine.

“The most difficult part of my year was falling sick for about three weeks over the first semester and having to come home, ” said Sasha Rayne, a freshman at the University of Wisconsin Madison.

According to a study done by the University of Akron “approximately one in four college students contract the flu every year.” This is due to a variety of reasons spanning from increased exposure to viruses to adapting to new routines.

For Rayne, she found that keeping a positive mindset while keeping up with missing work helped her during this difficult period.

Trust your training 

Both Kennedy and Rayne believed that Saint Ignatius prepared them well for college 

“Academically I was already used to heavy workload and time management so the adjustment period was not too bad.” said Kennedy. “I will say I definitely have to study more, but the relationships I formed with my teachers during my time at Ignatius have made going to office hours and advocating for myself much easier,.”

Rayne agrees.“I think Ignatius does a great job teaching students how to effectively manage time, study for exams, and stay focused in class,” she said.

For both Rayne and Kennedy, they found that they spent a lot more time outside of the classroom than they did in high school. Noting also that they now study more as well. 

 A study from the University of Scranton Institutional Research Office that reports, “25% of the students who came from schools that were not challenging report feeling ‘not at all prepared for college.” 

Skills:

A study done by school counselors in Arizona titled “Student Perception of College Readiness” reports that, “high school students often do not realize what skills are needed and expected until they are enrolled in college.” 

According to Rayne and Kennedy these skills are vital for college: Time-management, self-discipline, independence, and confidence. 

Rayne remarks, “It is your job to find other resources and means of help to perform your best.” This statement supports the overall idea that in college you are fully in charge of your life and your actions will shape your future. 

Budgeting

Finances are another point of anxiety. As there is no longer a nice Quest worker in college handing out panini’s and whatever expensive special they made today, seniors are going to need to start budgeting their money. 

Kennedy admits “I definitely spent a lot more money than I thought I would or then I would like to admit.” Her two recommendations to help avoid her issue are to go to the dining hall as much as possible and take turns with friends ordering food, Ubers, or putting cards down. She believes that this way the burden does not fall on one person and everything is more manageable. 

Unlike most students, Rayne spent her freshman year in an apartment rather than a dorm room. Due to this, her experience, especially with budgeting, was very different and more similar to an upperclassman’s rather than a freshman’s. 

“The biggest tip I have followed to save money is to meal-plan and dedicate only 1-2 days a week where I want to treat myself with eating out,” says Rayne. This way, Rayne only spent around $75 every other week on groceries.

Lastly, Coursicle’s “Ultimate College Freshman Survival Guide” recommends to “track your spending for the first two weeks to see where your money actually goes, then set limits based on reality, not what you hope to spend.”

Concluding advice 

The biggest advice Kennedy has to offer is to “Say “yes!” 

“No matter what, no matter who, be open and willing and just say “yes.”  You will only meet so many people you never would have even come in contact with, but you also set a good precedent for yourself that you are outgoing and friendly. 

Rayne agrees stating, “If I could go back to my first week, I would tell myself to say yes to more things.” 

Rayne ends it with two very important pieces of advice: be your true self and take a deep breath. Unlike high school, the pressure to conform to a standard is not present due to the vast and diverse communities throughout campus. So her biggest recommendation is to “take a deep breath and live in the moment, don’t get caught up in all the stress and what-ifs.”