Anthony Conte was excited to participate in Winning Futures’ Keys to College program at South Lake High School.
“I thought it was going to benefit me, I had no idea just how much.”
The K2C program focuses on simplifying the continuing education process and career planning. Anthony wasn’t sure if wanted to attend college right after high school. He knew he liked aviation and physics, he just wasn’t sure if he was ready to get started.
As the program began, Anthony was surprised to hear the program wasn’t going to focus on college as everyone’s destination. Instead it encouraged students to choose a post-secondary education option that best fit them, college, trade school, apprenticeship, or military.
Anthony expressed interest in the military as a career or continuing education option. “I had an interest in possibly joining the Navy, and I found out Mr. Howard the facilitator was in the Navy. He answered a lot of my questions.”
Halfway through the program, Anthony began talking with a Navy recruiter, and it all began to come together for him. “The Keys to College program showed me that college isn’t the only option you have after high school.”
Anthony is prepared to begin a career in the Navy where he will be an aviation structural mechanic. After his enlistment, he plans to enroll in college using his newly acquired GI Bill and major in physics with an astro physics concentration.
When asked what he learned in the K2C program that will stick with him, he said: “College doesn’t have to be a school, it can be anything that furthers your knowledge after high school.”