As the school year approaches it’s conclusion, WHS seniors are quite exasperated as they have spent extensive amounts of time preparing for college, military, technical school, as well as many other plans and preparations for their lives following graduation. Many seniors on the college route have chosen their preferred school, embarking on this new journey. A collegiate decision has yet to be made for senior Maria Lopez, as she must choose between two highly prestigious universities; Duke and Stanford.

Maria’s acceptance into both universities is something any student would be completely honored and proud of. She has been granted acceptance into several other outstanding schools such as Williams, Wellesley, Grinnell, and Tufts. I was rather eager to hear which path Maria will choose to pursue, yet her interest and appreciation for both schools is very evident.

“The thing that led me to apply to Duke is the interdisciplinary nature of its Trinity College of Arts and Sciences. At Duke, I would also study Spanish so I could learn even more about my Hispanic culture and language,” said Maria. Her response to why she chose to apply to Stanford was equally as responsive.

“My sister attends Stanford so I also chose to apply there to have a familiar presence to assuage being miles away from home. Stanford has an amazing computer science program, and being in Silicon Valley, my dream to be challenged in computer science will be fulfilled,” said Maria. Not only will Maria attend a highly esteemed college in the fall, but one sister is a current student at Stanford and the other a graduate from Yale; all Lopez girls are first generation college students! Wow!

Both schools possess a great cultural diversity that would allow her to feel at home. Maria, also, appreciates this diversity as she aspires to transform her visual arts studies into an activist project, really a dream for her. When asked which type of activism she hopes to pursue, Maria stated, “I like painting about social inequalities, whether it’s race or gender or some issue we see today that I am passionate about. I want to make a visual form of it to bring attention and awareness.”

Maria’s college decision deadline is fast approaching as the last chance to enroll is May 1st; she stated, “It’s between Duke and Stanford right now but…I am very much leaning towards Stanford! #GoTrees”

I am very excited to see which college Maria will choose but absolutely certain she will excel in any environment she is placed!