By the time the week is over, every senior at Niles High School will have had the opportunity to apply for some type of educational or employment opportunity after high school, whether it be with a traditional college, community college, the military or an apprenticeship.

“The goal is that everyone will have applied someplace today or set a plan in place for something they can do in the future,” said Josie DeJong, college and career counselor at Niles High School.

Niles is one of three districts in Berrien County participating in the state’s College Application Week event, which was created to encourage all seniors to apply to at least one form of post-secondary education and to create a college-going culture throughout the building.

This is the third consecutive year in which Niles has participated.

“In the past I know it has opened doors for students who weren’t sure what they wanted to do, but kind of knew they wanted to go (to college),” DeJong said. “We helped make it happen.”

Several counselors, support staff, representatives from local colleges and a military recruiter were on hand Wednesday to aid students in the process.

DeJong said many of the students they see are the first in their family to pursue a post-secondary education.

“A lot of students are just waiting to take the first step because they think it is going to be difficult or complicated, but it doesn’t have to be overwhelming,” DeJong said. “We have people here that will support them and help them do that.”

To make applying more enticing, some colleges even waive the application fee during College Application Week.

Senior David Kennedy took advantage of that to apply for Eastern Michigan University — a backup plan in the event that he doesn’t get accepted into Western Michigan University.

“I was not planning on applying to Eastern because I didn’t know about their aviation program,” said Kennedy, who wants to become a pilot. “I was really focused on Western’s application and hadn’t really thought about any schools outside of that.

“I was happy we got the time to step aside and fill out applications and think about the future.”