On May 16th, the Air Academy class of 2019 is leaving high school for good. Though, just because they won’t be attending AAHS anymore, that doesn’t mean that their days of learning are over, far from it, actually. So, where are the seniors going after they graduate?

I’m going to the Colorado School of Mines,” said Logan Cooper. “It’s an engineering college. I want to major in computer science, I really like programming and working with computers in general. I’m looking to be a software developer.”

Both Amaya McGough and Lillian Knutson are attending the University of Colorado in Colorado Springs. In fact, due to its close proximity to AAHS, and its cheaper tuition than many other colleges in the area, UCCS is a bit of a hot-spot for graduating Air Academy High School students.

“It’s really cheap, and also I think it has a lot of options for medical, which I was interested in,” said Kenucin. “I just think it’s really interesting, and I like to help people. I’m not really sure what major I want yet, but it’s got plenty of medical classes I can take.”

“I want to major in biology, or something science related,” said Amaya McGough. “I’m just kind of excited to see how much more I’ll learn, I like science; biology is kind of broad, so I can go in different directions if I change my mind.”

There are many students choosing to take their next step in education outside Colorado, and explore different universities out of state, such as Olivia Sieders.

“I’m going to the University of New Mexico,” said Sieders. “I liked how it felt, the campus was nice. It’s in Albuquerque, it’s a big town if I get bored and want to go do stuff during the summer, but the campus itself feels very communal and close. I’m looking forward to meeting new people and getting out of Colorado. I mean, I love Colorado, but I’ve lived here my entire life. I liked how it felt, the campus was nice.”

Paige Embaugh is going to the University of Toledo, Ohio. “I’m going to be competing on the cross country and track team,” said Embaugh. “I’m also going to be going into P.T. school afterwards.” Embaugh says she enjoys the campus, and how even though it’s large, everyone seems to know each other.

“I’ll be going off to West Carolina University,” said Sydney Cubero, who was accepted into all 6 colleges she applied to. “I really like the location where it was. It’s kind of tucked away in the Appalachian Mountains, and it’s far, and it’s got a nursing program that’s pretty good.”

Jazmyn Zynda is headed to Texas State University. “I get the Hazelwood act, because my dad was commissioned into the army out of Texas, so I get free tuition when I go down there. For my bachelor’s degree,” said Zynda. “I was looking for a campus that wasn’t 60,000 kids, but wasn’t as small as a high school, so it’s got 30,000, kind of the in-between.”