Senior Julia Francisco will be attending the University of Texas at San Antonio this fall. She chose the university because she will be surrounded by friendly faces.

“I have family who lives there,” Francisco said. “And I have cousins who graduated from there and they were basically my role models and I have them to kind of guide me through my college life.”

Francisco plans on following in her mother’s footsteps by majoring in psychology.

“I’m just really interested in how people think and intrigued about how society makes people think,” she said “I like social psychology and how a person develops in their life.”

Francisco demonstrates a dedicated work ethic as she participates in several school activities and manages to uphold passing grades in all of her classes, including three AP classes: AP Calculus, AP Psychology, and AP Language.

“I’m taking these AP courses to save up money through college and get ahead, especially psychology since psychology will be my major,” she said. “I’ve been in cross country for three years and track for one year. I have participated in HOSA club, interact club, and Korean cultural club. I’m also in senior leadership.”

While Francisco has set strict standards for herself, she hadn’t always been that way.

“I didn’t used to get straight As actually. Freshman and sophomore year I didn’t really try in school. I wanted to interact more with dating and friends rather than focusing on school work,” she said. “I was just average. I cared more about my social life.”

She considered the possibilities in her future shifted her focus and continues to work hard for good grades.

“I started working harder for straight As during junior year to prepare for my future,” she said. “AP Lang and AP Psych are going pretty well for me right now. However, I can’t say the same for AP Calculus.” She would like to give a little shout out to her AP Calculus teacher, Mr. Takiguchi.

College can be an exciting place, however, Francisco has mixed feelings about leaving her high school.

“I’m really excited, but I’m also overwhelmed,” she said. “After graduation, my actual life is gonna start. Like, I’m not in high school anymore. I’m gonna be an adult. I’m gonna do things on my own. I don’t know, it’s kind of surreal.”

The part she is most excited about, “the freedom.”

“My cousins told me that college is way better than high school,” she said. “Basically, college fits you. Your classes have to fit you and your schedule. College is an option. You don’t need to go to college, but I want to. I want to study and have a career.”