Senior experience is a program during the last three weeks of high school designed to help seniors prepare for the real world as they transition from high school. Students can choose to do a job placement, volunteer placement or an independent project. 

Senior Violet Dellinger decided to do an independent project for her senior experience. 

“I don’t have a lot of time to sew during the school year, so with three weeks of senior experience, I’ll have a lot more time to work on my sewing skills,” Dellinger said.

Every year, almost 100 percent of seniors participate in senior experience. Anything can count as a placement as long as you have a mentor who is a staff member at the school. Independent projects can be anything that students want to learn or feel passionate about. Dellinger decided to spend her time learning more about sewing.

“I have a sewing machine, but I only know the basics of it,” Dellinger said. “ I want to learn more functions of how to use it and more embroidery stitches.” 

This year, senior experience starts on May 20 and ends on June 7. Over three weeks, students are expected to obtain 60 hours of either work experience, volunteer experience, an internship or an independent project.

“It’s really a great excuse to do something that you haven’t had time to do during the school year,” Dellinger said.

Instead of doing an independent project, Alyssa Hayes is working for her senior experience.

“I am working at the Thinkabit Tech Lab at Virginia Tech campus near the school,” Hayes said. 

The Thinkabit tech lab is designed for K-12 students to foster creativity, collaboration and critical skills vital for future jobs. It is part of another program called Urban Alliance, which connects high school students with paid internships. At the tech lab, Hayes does research projects and helps out with the younger kids. 

“I work Monday-Thursday 2-5 for lab, and Friday 2:30-4 for the Urban Alliance part,” Hayes said. “I like the people I work with and what I do at [the Thinkabit tech lab].”

 To obtain her 60 required hours, senior Sarah Ahmad will mix and match two different placements. She will  intern at the Virginia Tech Qualcomm Thinkabit Lab and work at the Extended Day Program at Campbell Elementary School.

“For senior experience, I am planning on creating a website for my mentor using my coding skills,” Ahmad said. “Concerning my Extended Day job, I love working with kids, so I am looking forward to spending more time with them.”

Senior experience allows students to build their resumes and gives them more time to expand their work experience. 

“I currently work there twice a week, so I would like to extend it to the whole week,” Ahmad said