With the 37th school year of Bear River coming to a close, many students are preparing to take their next step. 

There are a number of questions that may be running through Bruins’ heads — what classes will be offered next year? What should one do over the summer to prepare? What are colleges looking for? What will life after high school be like? 

Though many have considered these questions, they may not always know the answers. 

Sharing their perspectives, a freshman, sophomore, junior, and a senior provided insights on their plans for the next year. 

Ambitious and goal-oriented junior Mia Guerra has no shortage of plans for both her summer and next school year. 

“I’ll be in AP Art next year, so I’ll be doing a lot of realism studies,” Guerra said. “I’ll also be doing Advanced Production.” 

She also prioritizes gaining as much work-related knowledge as she can. 

“I’m gonna try to get a job or something so I can have more work experience.” 

Guerra has also applied for an internship working in production at Sierra College.

Like Guerra, sophomore Michael Rodriguez-Reavis is bent on broadening both his academic and extracurricular expertise. 

“Next year, I’m hopefully going to be taking clay, art, and weights,” Rodriguez-Reavis said. “I’ll also be taking a math and a science — anything [science class] with Weaver. He’s one of my favorite teachers.” 

He added, “I might also do summer school.” 

Freshman Gabriella Kitchen is also planning on continuing her artistic endeavors. Kitchen, who is currently taking ceramics, elaborates.

 “I plan on taking dance, clay, hopefully photography, and Ag Mechanics,” she said. “And because it’s required, I’m gonna take a science … I think I’m gonna do an Ag science. And I’m also doing math and English.”

 Kitchen is also very passionate about art: “I love doing art. I’ll do art at home, I do all sorts of things.” 

For her summer, she noted, “I might try to get a nicer camera and practice certain ways to take photos and stuff. With dance, I’ll do stretches and make up little dances and stuff.” 

She described the ways in which such an artistic skill set may aid her in the years to come. 

“I want to be a fashion designer after high school, so with (art/dance classes), it’s helping me since it’s a creative type of thing, it’s showing me all these different types of styles.” 

Senior Jimmy Garrett maintains the artistic theme.

“I’ll probably be going to Sierra College or I’ll likely go to a community college, since those usually pay for themselves. I’ll likely be majoring in a Bachelor of Arts in Graphic Design.” 

He further explained, “I like doing art, so I may as well get paid for it. And then when I grow up I’m going to live in a house full of cats.”