Parents worried, yet confident, about children entering senior year
By: Lacey Korevec
The parents of 333 students going into their senior year at Monroe Township High School are likely filled with mixed emotions as their children embark on the beginning of the end of their high school days.
Senior year is packed with milestones like last football games, prom and graduation, but it’s also the year that students need to focus on their futures, specifically where they will attend college, how they will get accepted and how they will pay for it.
Abbe Cocuzza, whose youngest child, Andrew, is a senior, is sad to be nearing the end of an important chapter, but she said she’s excited about the memories this school year will bring.
"I usually take pictures of both the kids the first days of school for all these years, and it just seems kind of bittersweet that this will be the last," she said. "I think it’s probably going to be the best of his four years in terms of what he’ll experience. And, obviously, it’s an important year because it’s going to decide what’s going on in his life."
For Ms. Cocuzza, the main priority right now is helping him score well on the SATs and figure out which schools he will apply to.
"We have a tutor for the SATs that comes once a week," she said. "That’s really the only good way I know to make sure he’s on top of it."
Since she has gone through the process before with her older daughter, she said, she feels a little more on top of what she and her son need to focus on. Between visiting schools, filling out applications, writing essays, speaking with guidance counselors and everything else that goes hand in hand with getting accepted to college, the process is time consuming and leaves little room for mistakes.
"You’re on top of them more because you know what to expect," she said. "The first time, you go into it blind. It’s a complicated process."
Despite some of the senior stress factors, Lois Castrovince is mostly just feeling good about her son, Matthew, starting of his last year at Monroe. The two of them spent a lot of time last year considering different schools and visiting their campuses. Ms. Castrovince feels ahead of the game.
"I think we’ll be all ready," she said. "I have no apprehensions and I think it’s going to be a good year." Though she has a long road of research ahead of her, she feels prepared to handle the finances she will be faced with come next fall.
"I have to explore a little more about applying for financial aid," she said. "That’s something that I have to do. It can be quite daunting when you think of some of those expenses."
Matthew is interested in some schools that are out of state, like the University of Maryland and Marist College in New York, but Ms. Castrovince said she feels comfortable with the fact that they are still within driving range.
"The three hours distance is about as far as I’d like him to go," she said. "We told him not to look at any schools that required a plane ride. He’ll be on his own, yet he’ll be close enough for us to reach him in case of an emergency so I’m good with that."
Though she will miss him no matter where he goes, Ms. Castrovince said, she is comfortable with this being his last year home because he is prepared for the next step. At the high school, he is vice president of the National Honors Society and is involved with other organizations like Model U.N. and has showed he can handle important responsibilities.
"I’m going to miss him but on the other hand I think he’s ready and I think it won’t be hard for him to adjust," she said. "He’s mature and he’s got a good head on his shoulders, so I think he’s going to be all right."
Gina Antoniello is another senior who has gotten a head start on the college prep process. She was accepted last year into the pre-college summer program at Duke University in Durham, N.C., her mother Rosalie said. She spent much of this summer there and is now even more comfortable with choosing a school out of state.
"We both got a taste already of what it’s like to be away," Ms. Antoniello said. With that experience under her belt, Ms. Antoniello is hoping that she and her daughter can make it through this school year without too much stress about where Gina will be next fall.
"I want her to be happy, that’s all," she said. "I want her to remember this year for the rest of her life. It’s the year of a lifetime."
Affording four years’ worth of tuition, however, has already caused a small amount of stress, Ms. Antoniello said.
"I have a lot of anxiety about how I’m going to pay for this competitive college because the schools that she’s looking at are well in the $40,000 range," she said. "There’s a lot of anxiety but we’ll do whatever we need to get her this opportunity. As her parents, we will be by her side."
Ms. Antoniello is confident in her daughter’s ability to succeed this year at the high school and beyond.
"I have faith in Gina," she said. "I’m not worried at all. I think it’s going to go smoothly and I think she’s going to be able to handle it with no problem. She’s always thought about her future, so I think she knows the direction she wants to go in. I think it’s just a matter of expediting. I have a very positive feeling about this."

