Where other students of Ojai Valley School’s Upper Campus returned to start the school year on August 25, 2025, my school year started on September 8, 2025.
My student visa—a crucial factor in my ability to study internationally—had expired in early August. However, no appointments were available at the embassy due to policies implemented by the current U.S. administration under Donald Trump designed to limit immigration and international students within the United States.
My mom and I were left with no choice but to beg, sending countless emails and phone calls to the embassy in hopes that they would understand the severity of my situation.
Finally, I was able to schedule an appointment that would allow me to return to school two weeks after it would officially begin. And yet, I understood that this was an exception, and despite my delayed return, I had gotten extremely lucky.
But what if I couldn’t get my visa renewed in time? What if new policies designed to hinder my education are implemented in the near future? And what if these hindrances prevent me from further pursuing studies in the United States when I am in college?
The subject matter of college life is abundant with unease. As if the application process isn’t stressful or demanding enough, getting into college thrusts seniors into a new stage in their education, under an unfamiliar environment that tests their ability to sustain themselves much more independently than ever before. Like many seniors around the world, the senior class of Ojai Valley School is anxious about the various uncertainties of life after graduating from high school.
Ojai Valley School senior Vincent Bell’s greatest concern regarding life in college stems from the ambiguity of choosing a major.
“Because it usually strengthens your application to have a major selected, I’ve had to put myself into a certain study that I, while I find interesting, am uncertain about pursuing as a career,” Vince said. “Essentially, there’s always a worry that I’ll be ‘stuck’ in a major I don’t like.”
It can be overwhelming to be asked, as 17 to 18-year-olds, what we want to do for the rest of our lives. What if the career we always thought we wanted grows stale? And while students retain the option to modify their academic major, it will demand greater costs through indirect expenses of extra courses and years spent until college graduation.
Ojai Valley School senior Jessi Ponce Sanchez expressed her apprehension concerning the significant financial burden associated with college.
“My education is literally in the hands of our politicians. I am most likely going to have to rely on financial aid to support myself through college,” Jessi said. “It is harder to take out loans for school because of Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill, which could limit my educational pursuits.”
So much of the college future is left subject to change. Some changes are within our control, such as self-discovery and determining the path of our future careers. While other changes we can not control, such as government policies that impede certain demographics’ educational potential.
Either way, it is all ultimately a gamble. There is no security or definitive understanding of how this next stage in our education will play out, or how it may not play out.
I find comfort in stability and reassurance. But right now, the trajectory of college life is clouded with uncertainty.