As college acceptances come out, the dreaded question “Where do you want to go?” is being asked. At the lunch table. In the hallway. By your homeroom teacher. While having a family game night.

The idea of venturing off into a new place, and getting out of high school is exciting, but for some college brings something else­ ­­— financial troubles. Seriously, college is expensive. The average cost for state residents at public colleges was $9,970 for 2017-2018 according to the College Board. To put that in perspective, if you made $9 an hour, you’d have to work 1,108 hours to make that much for one year of college. And that’s just tuition and fees, not living expenses. Yup.

The truth is, not everyone can afford to go out-of-state. Or to a big state school. Sometimes, people can only go where they get scholarships. Sometimes, people don’t want to take out thousands in student loans. Or they stay in Brevard because they want to be close to family. Whatever the reason, it’s perfectly valid.

The average ACT score at our school is a 27. The state average is 19. Because our school is college preparatory, our students naturally have higher acceptance rates than others.

At an elitist school such as ours, college acceptances seem to come easy. Our curriculum is built so that each student is a solid candidate on applications, a blessing truly, so it’s easy to get wrapped up in the idea that college acceptances are “easy.” In reality, at other high schools not everyone gets accepted. Not everyone even goes to college. Some people take gap years. Here, everyone goes to college. We view 40 percent and 50 percent acceptance rates as easy, because most students at our school get in, which isn’t typical. It’s common for people to want to go to the University of Central Florida. Or the University of North Florida. Or smaller schools, such as Florida Gulf Coast University or Florida Atlantic University. These aren’t “dumb” or “lesser” schools. The perfect school is different for each person, and that’s O.K.. What’s not O.K., is to make it seem like these schools aren’t O.K..

Instead of judging others for going to a “lesser” school, support them for continuing their education and taking opportunities. Be proud of your peers and congratulate them on all their acceptances. Going to college is the next big step in our lives, and it’s exciting, so don’t be a hater.