The thought of going to a school that is less than an hour away from their parents scares most students. However, for seniors Jace Armstrong and Michael Albracht they had found their perfect match within schools some students don’t even give a fighting chance.  

Students may believe that it is impossible to get the education they are seeking at a school that is in the same state as their family, but sometimes that is what makes going to college the most fulfilling. 

“I understand that people want to get away from where they live now, but I think it’s more convenient if you ever run into issues or something to be able to go home and have your parents help you out,” Albracht said.  

Running into issues in college is not an uncommon thing and students should take that into consideration when finding their dream school. Jace Armstrong is going to UNL to study landscape architecture with the hope of “making things functional and beautiful at the same time” while staying close to his hometown.  

“I wanted to stay in the Midwest for sure,” Armstrong said. “I didn’t want to have a super long road trip. It’s away enough so that my parents won’t just drop down randomly.”  

College is an experience some people not enjoy, but they fail to understand that they have the power to reach out to other people and make their time there worthwhile.  

“College is what you make of it,” Armstrong said. “You could go to a [weaker] college, but still have a good experience.” 

While your experiences at college can be the most memorable, students should take a moment to realize that their dream school could be right down the street.  

“I tried to make it about the school and not the proximity,” Armstrong said.  

Even though students are encouraged to find an extracurricular activity that could help them find their perfect career, students like Albracht don’t always find something that sparks their interest. Albracht was uninterested in extracurriculars PLHS had to offer and took basic classes without much guidance on how they would help his future. 

“I think I [might try] to do more career surveys before I’m actually in college,” Albracht said. 

Sometimes the perfect schools that students are looking for are not across the country, hours away from everything they’re familiar with. Sometimes the perfect school is right in your backyard.