From AcDec to tennis, several different student groups are off campus Friday including a group that is visiting Collin College for a better insight on what college is all about.

“The purpose of the students going to Collin College, we do it every year just to kind of, the main gist would be to show them the difference between the supports they get in high school and what supports you would get in college,” teacher Julia Chalker said. “If you receive special ed services for having a disability, you get a lot more support in high school than you would in college and a lot of kids don’t realize that and I want them to be as prepared as possible.”

Although the students will get to see the difference between high school and college, they will also get to plan out their future with more in mind.

“It’s a good experience for students because it’s kind of an eye opener,” Chalker said. “I think it’s probably one of the most valuable things I do with my job every year because I work with kids on getting them ready for whatever they want to do after high school. It’s just an eye opener, they’re like wow. I’ve been telling them the things that they hear there every year, but when they hear it from someone else at a college, then they start believing it.”

It’s become something of a yearly tradition for Chalker, one that she feel is necessary.

“I’ve been taking them, this is probably like the 7th or 8th year that I’ve taken Liberty students to Collin,” Chalker said. “I know some other campuses are doing it now, but we’ve been doing it for like 8 years and I just saw the need because I would see students leave here and just flounder in college because they were so used to the support they get here.”

Although the students learn about the difference between high school and college, they also get a better understanding of what community colleges have to offer.

“Not only do they learn about the difference between the supports they get in high school and in college,” Chalker said. “A lot of kids are like have kind of a negative attitude about community college and if they have to start at a community college then sometimes they’re embarrassed about it and that kind of thing, but when they go on this trip to Collin and do the tour of the campus, they’re like in shock. They’re like wow this is a real college, this is really nice and they might see people they know that used to come here and that kind of thing so a lot of them come back more excited about going to community college.”

The trip is expected to be beneficial for the students to learn a lot about what colleges have to offer, while relieving the stress of future college decisions.

“I do think the students should have this opportunity more than once during their high schools, possibly during their junior and senior years,” teacher Donna Anderson said. “The application process, college testing, financial aid, selecting classes, etc., can be overwhelming for students, therefore exposing them to the process several times during their high school years may help to alleviate the stress accompanied with these decisions.”