On April 8, the PDS College Counseling team hosted its annual workshop for the junior class, designed to offer members of the Class of 2026 a chance to pause, reflect, and begin thinking about their college application journey. Before diving into the application process itself, the session first invited students to step back and consider their goals and personal growth over time. It then aimed to provide practical advice.
Throughout the workshop, students were encouraged to consider what mattered the most to them, both in their everyday lives and across their high school experiences. From guided reflections to hands-on activities, the workshop emphasized the importance of authenticity, curiosity, and personal growth as students prepare to share their stories in the application process. This year’s session also featured several creative and interactive components. Students journaled their thoughts, mapped out key moments on personal timelines, and even crafted “essence objects” out of pipe cleaners to represent their identities, values, and passions. These moments encouraged meaningful self-reflection while helping students feel more connected to each other and comfortable with the college process itself.
For junior Adeola Egbeleye, the workshop was both calming and constructive. “It helped me feel more relaxed about the upcoming inevitables that juniors all around the world will encounter,” she said. One of her biggest takeaways was learning how to dive deeper into her daily experiences and begin translating them into meaningful material for her personal statement–an essay that serves as a central component of the college application and highlights a student’s voice and perspective beyond academics.
Others appreciated the opportunity to start thinking about college without the pressure that often surrounds it. Junior Brooklyn Jang found the self-reflection and brainstorming activities especially helpful. “Being able to set aside time to think about all of this early on before we actually start writing in the summer was so valuable,” she explained. For her, the most important message was that “your college essay is really about telling your own story.”
Beyond the activities and advice, the workshop also fostered a sense of shared experience. As juniors begin to feel the weight of the college process, the session reminded them that they are not navigating it alone and that their peers are asking similar questions, facing the same uncertainties, and receiving the same support.
As the college journey continues to unfold for the PDS Class of 2026, this workshop served not only as a thoughtful and reassuring starting point, but also as a reminder that students will be supported every step of the way, with both their classmates and counselors by their side.
