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Photograph by Sebastian Widmann
Eastbound: Jason Trevino says he loves California, but he's off to Boston University this fall to pursue a degree in film.
Packing up, heading out
High school grads say goodbye to friends and family and hello to college
By Chantal Lamers
Each year around August, the population of Willow Glen drops a little. Mothers become sentimental and flip through baby photos of their 18-year- old sons and daughters. It's the time of year when thousands of high school graduates pack their most essential belongings and head off to college.
Some of these budding young adults prefer to stay local and attend San Jose State or Santa Clara University. Some just want out of California.
Don't get him wrong. Jason Trevino, 18, loves California. And he says at heart, he'll always be a Californian. But Trevino has a plane ticket to Boston and a dorm room waiting for him at Boston University.
He's just one of thousands of California high school graduates that will leave the nest this summer and begin some of the best years of their young lives away at college.
"I'm excited and nervous," Trevino says. "I'm finishing one book in my life and starting a new one, with new characters and a new setting."
The Willow Glen High School graduate will major in film on the East Coast this fall. "I've just always loved movies," Trevino says. "I want to tell a story with pictures."
He looked at the different California campuses before choosing Boston. "I didn't find anything in the California University system," he says. He looked at UCLA's and USC's film schools. "I hated those--they're too big."
Though he's only been to Boston twice, he was sold on the historic town, crowded movie theaters and coffee shops after his second visit. And they weren't just crowded, they were packed with people his age.
"It's just a phenomenal city," he says. "It's a college town and you're surrounded by young people all the time."
Photograph by Sebastian Widmann
Leaving the nest: When Jason Trevino leaves for college, his younger siblings will get some breathing room around the house.
He'll be 3,000 miles away, a five-hour plane ride from home.
"It's scary to think that I'm going to leave home. I'll miss my friends and family. But I think I'm ready for it, I've been thinking about it for two years."
Trevino has already done most of his precollege shopping. He's bought the typical items any young guy his age needs: new twin sized sheets and bathroom towels.
He'll pack up a fan and blanket. He'll take along a new computer and a warm winter jacket for those cold Boston winters.
Not only will he storm the cold winters, he'll learn to adapt to a new method of transportation. College students usually ride the train--nicknamed "the T" in Boston.
And until that fateful day when he arrives at the doorstep of his dorm--he's praying he'll have a normal roommate. "I just want a cool roommate."
Though he's looking forward to making new friends, he's not looking forward to saying goodbye to his three best friends from high school. "That's my biggest worry--my three friends here," he says. "I'll be meeting new people I'll be friends with for the rest of my life."
While his parents get a little teary-eyed at the thought of him leaving the state, his brother and sister are practically marking down the days until their older brother ships off to college.
Trevino says he and his 16-year-old sister, Erica, clash sometimes because they're so close in age. He says since they are maturing, the two are getting along better. "Or she's finally maturing," he says. And Trevino shares a room with his 12-year-old brother Brandon, "He's happy to get his room to himself.
"It's hardest on my parents," he says. "But they've been real supportive."
Trevino says many of his friends didn't have the option of attending college out of the state. But Trevino's parents were open-minded. "They want me to do what makes me happy."
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Willow Glen, California Since 1992
