On March 18, 2026, Aliso Niguel High School Students had an opportunity to attend a college webinar where various schools came together and discussed admission processes, resumes and their schools. The college and career center kindly helped with this event and contributed, making sure the Aliso students were aware.
The webinar ultimately went very well, and had great information about colleges for students. College is a big cause of stress for many high school students, and having their thoughts organized by these events is extremely beneficial to make things feel less overwhelming.
Students can hear from ANHS, DHHS and SCHS graduates who now attend or have attended schools like UPenn, UCLA, UCSD and more. Our very own counselor, Beatrice Nguyen, hosted this event.
This webinar was held in question-and-answer format, so students could really get specific with what they wanted to know about college. They discussed topics such as high school experience, college search and application processes, transfer pathways, paying for college, and recommendations from Alumni.
The three Alumni were Aaron Azami, Eve Chavez and Katherine Verrando. Who, in sequential order, attended college at the University of California Los Angeles, the University of California Santa Cruz and the University of Pennsylvania.
These students discussed when they graduated, what their goals were and what their majors were. The most recent alumni both graduated in the very recent year of 2024. They started off with questions about their curricula and extracurricular activities, starting off with Eve Chavez.
She says, “I took kind of a mix of classes, I would say, I was really interested in the extracurricular side of high school. So oftentimes half my classes were extracurriculars, and half were academic.”
She explained that since she knew what to do, she took classes that she knew contributed to her career as well as classes that she could enjoy. She took classes that prepared her and things that would challenge her.
Aaron Azami suggests that students should take a large amount and variety of AP classes, because going into college, they make things a lot easier and minimize the number of classes they would have to take that do not pertain to their major or career. This takes a load off of college careers; he specifically did not have to take any Science or English courses due to the APs he took in school.
Katherine Verrano agrees with this statement and also explains the enrollment in classes that she attended at Saddleback, on top of her classes in school. She also expresses that you should do things that you are very interested in, because it shows consistency and passion.
Veranno explains some of her activities, “I participated in several non-profits, and began a service which gave back to people in the pandemic. It really shows colleges your initiative and that you can make an impact.”
Later in the Webinar, Veranno addresses worries that the students should not stress about too much. She says, “Your GPAs and your test scores don’t define you. It’s not about the college you go to, it’s about how you show yourself when you’re there… It’s important to realize everyone’s path is different.”
This webinar, hosted by Futureology college counseling, was not only helpful to lay things out, but also comforting, knowing that even though there are some things along the way that will be challenging, it will still be worth it in the end. The alums make sure to show that even if you are not perfect, you shouldn’t worry about it.
