According to the Public Policy Institute of California, 62% of the 456,000 students who graduated from high school in 2022 enrolled in college within 12 months. As the second semester of San Marin High School’s 2025-26 year comes to an end, it can be easy to focus on the students entering college. Degrees are a tradition and in everyday life it can be easy to miss the extent of choices after high school.
Junior Elias Sweeny plans to determine his future through scoping out different opportunities after he graduates.
“I’m just going wherever the world takes me,” Sweeny said. “I hope to play football, but, it might not work out. I want to have a fun, fun few years of community college, do whatever I want… travel and be a firefighter.”
While some students like Sweeny are searching for their careers through junior college, others, like senior Brooklan Patton, are working to enroll in focused career schooling.
“I plan on going to cosmetology school either up in Sonoma or in [San Francisco], but I don’t plan on going to [a traditional] college right now,” Patton said.
Cosmetology schools and careers are part of a growing industry. The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that employment for barbers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists is projected to grow by about 5 percent from 2024 to 2034, which is faster than the average growth rate for all total occupations.
Patton mentions the future of artificial intelligence (AI) as being a deciding factor for her further career choice.
“I think [cosmetology] is one of those jobs that can’t get taken over by AI,” Patton said. “What else is supposed to happen? Is an AI robot going to cut your hair? I don’t think so.”
Senior Carlos Luna plans to immediately enter the workforce and focus on college after gaining work experience.
“Right now, I’m looking for experience so I plan on getting a job in the entry that would allow me to make some money,” Luna said. “My current idea is that right now I might volunteer for the Youth Center over by Sinaloa and help with watching some of the kids, doing some of the things that are needed around town. I also plan on taking a gap year. During that gap year, I’m going to do a lot of research on other colleges.”
Other careers often include trade schools. A trade profession is a career that necessitates a specific skill set or learned knowledge, often from apprenticeship. The U.S. Department of Labor reported in 2022 that over 34 million Americans worked trades. These categories often included farming, forestry, construction, installation, and maintenance. CNBC reported in 2025 that someone can earn as much as $101,000 per year for working as a city-hired electrician or engineer.
Overall, students have a wide range of post-high school opportunities, whether students choose to pursue higher education or choose alternative pathways in other fields and forms of education.
