The Home School Association hosted a college panel night along with the High School guidance department. The panelists answered questions from both the evening’s moderator, Mr. Lawrence Wolff, and the audience.

The idea to have the panel was brought to the HSA by Jennifer Scherer, who had seen a college panel done at another high school.

“I thought it was really great and I know my daughter appreciated it, and I thought it was such a great thing to do here at Glen Rock because we have so many impressive kids that are doing so many different things,” Scherer said.

The panel consisted of 11 Glen Rock alumni who are currently college freshman of various schools and majors.

“We really wanted a group of all different types of kids so that anyone in the audience could possibly relate to one or two of them,” Scherer said.

The evening was split up into three parts. During the first part, the panelists were asked questions pertaining to the application process. For the second part the panelists were asked about their experiences on campus during their first semester. The panelists then received questions from the audience.

Jake Aboyoun, who graduated last year and now attends Marymount Manhattan as a Musical Theatre Major, was asked a question by an audience major about how he chose his major.

“My favorite moment was getting to answer was getting to answer a question about the arts because discussing the arts is very important, especially in a town like Glen Rock,” Aboyoun said.

James O’Rourke (‘18) attended the event to find out more about choosing a major and the adjustment from high school to college.

“I got a few ideas of what the college experience is like, and the main message that I got was to not stress myself out so much,” O’Rourke said.

Over 100 people were in attendance, and the event had to be moved from the Media Center to the auditorium to accommodate the larger crowd.

“I would love to see it done on an annual basis because juniors and seniors change each year, but I think we’re waiting for feedback to see if students enjoyed it,” Scherer said.

Aboyoun said that he would have benefitted from something like this when he was a senior, especially hearing about campus life from college students.

“I had heard so much about the application process that I didn’t know what to expect when I got there, so there was a lot of adjusting for me,” Aboyoun said.

Students were also able to further discuss the college application and adjustment process with the panelists after the program in the lobby.

“We were happy with the turnout, and the panelists were amazing,” Scherer said.