Photo provided by Caiya Miller

Now that summer has come and gone, these former students commenced their journey in the real world. For some this may mean attending a 4-year university, for others, something entirely different.

Sage Creek alumna Nicole Morris, founder of Sage Creek´s Craft Club, moved nearly 300 miles from home to attend Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. She is living in the on-campus apartments and loving the “really cool hikes” nearby.  Something about college that Morris loves is, “that people want to be there and want to be in class and want to learn.” She is pursuing a chemistry degree and a math minor. After college, Morris hopes to become a chemistry professor after getting some experience working for a chemical company. She credits her, “really cool science teacher, Mrs. Crawford,” with inspiring her to major in chemistry and her pre-calculus teacher Mrs. Turner as, “the one who inspired [her],” to minor in math. For students also interested in chemistry, Morris suggests, “[taking] as much [chemistry] as you can … even if the AP doesn’t count [because] it is still really good knowledge.” She also advises to take lots of math as “math is super helpful.”

Two of Sage Creek’s alumni are currently attending Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona. Jack Lieberman, former editor-in-chief of The Sage and cross-country runner, is majoring in software engineering, and is thinking about minoring in journalism. His passion comes from how he has always “[had] a knack for working with computers and … been in love with video games.” He hopes that one day, “if [he] ever [has] children,” for them to say, “oh, yeah, my dad works for this company and makes cool video games and stuff.” Lieberman says that he “likes being independent” and he is currently, “learning how to code in 3 different languages.” He gives Sage Creek students the advice to, “really have a passion for whatever [they’re] doing or [they’re] going to hate [their] life.”

Bailey Moncrief, who was part of the theater and journalism programs at Sage Creek, is also a freshman at Arizona State University. She is studying communications and is thinking about switching her major to graphic design. She likes how graphic design, “combines art and computers, … things [she] both [enjoys] and [she knows] that [she] won’t have trouble finding a job with.” Moncrief noted that, “[she] misses “[her] friends, [her] family. and the ocean,” Moncrief loves how she is able, “to study things that [she is] actually interested in,” and, “still have time for a social life.” She advises Sage Creek students to, “make sure [they] put in the effort [towards their passions] and keep [their] head up.”

Former Sage student, Brandon Thomison, an alumni member of Sage Creek´s track and field team, decided to leave sunny California for Bozeman, Montana to attend Montana State University in pursuit of a business marketing major. This path makes sense to him as he, “wanted to get into adventure photography [and] figured marketing would be [a] great [way] to help market [himself].” An aspect of college he really enjoys is the ability to “do your work at a pace of your own choosing, rather than just sitting in a class for 6 hours a day.” Thomison looks forward to “seeing the snow for the first time.” For students looking to follow similar life-paths, he recommends to, “get out there, go do some adventurous stuff, and then if you want to succeed in classes,go to all your classes.”

The UC schools are a great option for students looking to attend a 4-year and stay in-state. This is the path Sage Creek alumnus Wil Michael, who was a part of the robotics team, chose. He will attend UC Santa Cruz with the plan to earn a bachelor’s degree in economics. Michael became interested in this subject after, “[taking] an economic course at Mira Costa,” and also because he, “[likes] money.” He looks forward to, “[making] new friends and [being] a [banana] slug.”

Four-year universities are not for everyone, some prefer to take their first two years at a junior college, and then transfer to a university in their junior year. This is the path Rachel Brooks thought she wanted to take through the junior college MiraCosta in Oceanside. However, she now plans to, “[transfer] to Palomar in the next semester, or next year, to study either physical therapy or occupational therapy.” Rachel loves the freedom of college life and advocates students to, “[study] something [they’re] comfortable with and [not] take an insane amount of classes [their] first semester because [they] need to get used to the way college runs.”

Some people don’t want to spend any time not following their dreams, and prefer to pursue their passions straight out of high school. This is what Sage Creek alumna Caiya Miller did.  Currently a co-teacher of a kindergarten class and part of a program called “Uno Más” in Esterillos Oeste Costa Rica, a village she lived in as a child, Miller is striving to make a difference. “Uno Más”  is, “a [growing] program that helps unprivileged kids … in the community.” It “[helps them] learn to do reading, writing [and] math … [and is] a safe place for them to go… to be with other kids.”

An interesting part about Miller’s story, is that she “used to live [in the same town],” and actually “went to [the same] school” she now teaches at. She, “always wanted to come back,” and, “moved down [there] not knowing what [she] was going to do and … now [has her] own little house and [is] living on her own.” She speaks of the difficulty of, “kids [speaking] different[ly] in spanish,” and the language barrier, but expresses her hopes to soon be, “fully bilingual… [and] to have more confidence when [she speaks].” Miller is not disheartened by this obstacle, and says, “you’re going to mess up a thousand times, but as long as you keep pushing and keep trying, you’ll get there.”

For her future, Miller hope, “to stay [there] as long as [she] can,” and, “when [she] comes back to the states, … to do something in child education or cosmetology.” Her favorite thing about her life in Costa Rica is, “to see the kids’ excitement, just being able to laugh when they have nothing. They all live in these little shacks and it’s really cool to see the life they live and then to see all the joy and excitement [they have], that’s the fulfilling part.” Miller looks forward to grow Uno Más more, the program has already grown quite a bit since she joined, and to help more kids out.

For students interested in following a life-path similar to her own, Miller recommends to, “[take] that leap of faith and trust yourself… you can do it, and yes, it’s going to be hard… but you just have to get past it.” She comments that, “moving to another country, without your family, … that’s a little hard just because there’s the language barrier, but in Costa Rica there’s a word called ‘Pura Vida,’ meaning ‘go with it,whatever happens happens.’”

Miller offers the advice to Sage students to, “not forget to be involved, and love high school while you’re [there] because you’re going to miss it once you’re gone, … [also] keep in contact with people, and when you do move on, to like your future jobs and classes and … countries or states, learn how to make new friends and … just be vulnerable to making new changes in your life.”