Some teens have their futures figured out. Ayden Austin is one of them.
The recent Ellet Community Learning Center graduate studied construction through the Goodyear Academy of Applied Engineering, where he learned basic carpentry, plumbing and electrical work. In mid-June, Austin took an aptitude test to join the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 306, the Akron-area electricians’ union, and will interview later this month for a chance to earn an apprenticeship.
“I’m pretty confident in the future of my trade,” he said. “Electric utilities are always going to be in higher demand because more houses are being built. … You can’t exactly get a robot to do all that.”
For other recent high school grads, the future is more ambiguous.
Princess Ripley graduated in May from Akron Early College, with plans to study criminal justice this fall at the University of Akron. One of her most pressing concerns is not what classes she’ll take but how she’ll find a job to cover college and life expenses.
“Knowing the minimum wage is so low, and gas prices [are] high — and being a college student — that’s a lot,” Ripley said. “It’s just realizing that I’m an adult right now, just knowing this is real life, I have to grow up.”
Austin and Ripley represent two different paths facing many recent Akron-area graduates. After the pomp of high school graduation ceremonies fades and the summer heat sets in, recent alums are preparing for college, trades, entrepreneurship, or jumping straight into the workforce or the military with — for many — a mixture of anxiety and excitement.
And for some, tomorrow is just another unknown ride.
“I’m just gonna go with the flow,” said Tyree Roper, an Akron Public Schools Online graduate. “And see where the future takes me.”
Data shows national change in college enrollment, importance
For generations of students, college was billed as the key to success: Get a degree, a good-paying job, and everything else will fall into place.
College enrollment after high school graduation peaked in 2009, with more than 70 percent of recent high school grads enrolling in a post-secondary education option.
But confidence in higher education has fallen over the years as tuition costs rise and some high school graduates enter the workforce or choose another option rather than invest another two or four years — or more — earning a degree.
By 2022, the most recent year data was available, only 62 percent of recent high school grads enrolled in college.
A 2025 Gallup poll found Americans place less value on a college education than in years past. Only about a third of respondents rated a college degree as “very important,” while nearly a quarter said it was “not too important.”
It is a shift that has not completely stymied college enrollment — with the University of Akron posting its largest enrollment gain last year since 2021 — but has changed the landscape for recent high school graduates.
For Akron Public Schools’ class of 2024, (the most recent data available) more than half enrolled in post-secondary education after high school, while almost all others found gainful employment. About 2 percent enlisted in the military.
Military service offers financial stability for North High School graduate
Marcus Whatley believes the military will open doors.
The North High School alum leaves next month for basic training at Fort Jackson in South Carolina.
He plans to study computer science and business management while in the U.S. Army — putting to use his years in DECA, an extracurricular organization focused on business, marketing and finance. He eventually wants to open his own business.
“Even though I knew I had a lot of money for college, I still wanted to get a benefit out of it – so I chose the military,” Whatley said. Once out of basic training, he’ll receive job training in Virginia and thinks he may be stationed at New York’s Fort Drum.
“I kind of know what I signed up for,” he said. “If I get deployed, I’m gonna go. In that moment, I may not be agreeing with it, but I still have to go at the end of the day. But also, you make a lot of money from a deployment.”
Even while in high school, Whatley was thinking about his future. He opened investment accounts, including a Roth IRA retirement account, and he plans to contribute to them throughout his military career.
“You always want to think ahead, even if the plan that you have set is not exactly what’s going to happen,” he said, offering advice to future high school graduates. “You always want to have a scope of what’s going to happen in the future.”
Firestone CLC grad on earning a living in the arts: ‘I have faith in everyone, including myself’
Despite prior years’ downward trends in college enrollment, many teens still opt for a traditional post-secondary route — with enrollment trending slightly upward since the pandemic.
Chloe Banks, a graduate of Firestone Community Learning Center, is one of those soon-to-be undergraduate students.
She will attend Kent State University in the fall to study vocal performance — a path she’s been on since she started middle school at Miller-South Performing Arts School.
She credits church choir with teaching her how to sing with others. The vocal pathway with the Akron School for the Arts taught her how to read music. And private lessons taught her how to take care of her voice while performing.
Thinking of her future was not something that kicked in until high school, Banks said.
She feels her courses prepared her to take the next step to study in Kent — a place she said already feels like a second home because of the number of times she’s performed and toured there — but beyond that, it will be about taking advantage of opportunities as they arise.
“I’m a little nervous. I know performing arts are so underfunded and very underrepresented,” she said. “But I feel like my generation is really focused on building a space where we can succeed, and I have faith in everyone, including myself.”
Akron teenager reminded that medical setbacks don’t define him
Like Banks, Tyree Roper plans to attend college in the fall — though he may take a nontraditional approach to his studies.
Roper graduated from Akron Public Schools Online, drawn to the flexibility of the internet-based coursework as it allowed him to continue his studies during extended hospital stays brought on by his sickle cell disease diagnosis, avascular necrosis and chronic migraines.
The inherited blood disorder causes misshapen red blood cells, leading to anemia, joint pain and infection, and can cause complications, including the death of bone tissue due to a lack of blood flow.
Roper’s medical issues slowed him down as a kid — but they never stopped him. He still played sports, and, as he got older, discovered a love of computer programming.
Roper has created his own video games and plans to continue the pursuit while studying human resources as a more stable work option. He’ll start at Stark State College in the fall with plans one day to transfer to Kent State University.
He plans to take some online classes to help minimize flare-ups, but he’s often reminded by his aunt and doctors that his disease does not define him or what he is capable of.
Obstacles in high school led to path forward in college
For some young adults, the future is already here.
Arianna Thornton graduated from Akron Public Schools’ STEM High School with a concentration in biotechnology and will attend the University of Akron in the fall on a scholarship. The 18-year-old already has her STNA license through a program at the STEM school and works at Maplewood Senior Living in Cuyahoga Falls.
She plans to earn her registered nursing license through UA and — after years of taking care of her younger siblings — wants to work in pediatrics.
Her road to graduation was, at times, uncertain. Her work at Maplewood has done more than give her experience in the medical field. It helped her navigate a period in which she experienced homelessness during her senior year.
Thornton lived with her grandmother until last August, then stayed with friends until she moved in with her godmother in January.
“I’ve always been on my own, technically,” Thornton said, adding that she pays bills and supports herself even now. “It was very stressful; I didn’t know if the [living] situation I was in was going to work out or not, and when it didn’t work out, I had to reach out to any resources that I had. And I didn’t have many resources.”
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The resources Thornton did have included APS’ Project RISE, which helps students experiencing homelessness access tutoring and connects them with outside support services.
“I’ve had moments when I felt like it was too much, but I always knew that it was for a reason — things were happening the way they were happening, and if I were to get through those obstacles, then things would be better for myself,” she said.
“I just really appreciated the whole process.”
In four years’ time, Thornton plans to graduate with her bachelor’s of science in nursing from UA and — like Whatley — leave Akron behind. With her nursing license in hand, she wants to move to Washington, D.C.
Ellet CLC grad: Trade protected from AI
While many high school graduates still choose college, others are jumping into trades or the workforce rather than spend another few years in school.
Ayden Austin’s time at Ellet CLC gave him the foundation for what he hopes is a lucrative career as an electrician.
“I’ve seen my dad do electric work, and it seemed easy and simple,” Austin said with a laugh. “And I’ve been electrocuted before and it wasn’t that bad.”
During his sophomore year at Ellet, Austin started with simple woodworking projects — jewelry boxes and bird houses — before moving onto drywalling and basic electrical work like wiring outlets and switches.
“When you’re in a trade, you know a lot about other trades at the same time — so you learn a little bit of plumbing, a little bit of construction, a little bit of this and that,” he explained.
Each trade is a skill artificial intelligence cannot take away — and will net him a job straight out of high school, Austin said, as his apprenticeship will coincide with full-time, paid work in the field.
Akron schools graduate: ‘My voice needs to be heard’
Ripley will return to the University of Akron’s campus this fall alongside Thornton and hundreds of other APS graduates.
After four years on UA’s campus at Akron Early College High School, Ripley plans to complete her undergraduate degree there — in part thanks to a full scholarship — to study criminal justice. Her goal is to become a civil rights attorney.
There were plenty of times Ripley second-guessed herself, she said, balancing college, high school coursework and dance, all threatening to overwhelm her. She credits her family and faith for getting her across the stage this spring.
Ripley isn’t fooling herself into thinking the hardest part is behind her. Being 18 years old, she is trying to figure out how everything happening in the world — from rising consumer prices to political instability — will impact her future.
If anything, it has only made her more focused on her path forward.
“I always had motivation to feel like my voice needs to be heard,” she said. “I want to put my knowledge to something … I feel like even though it may take a lot out of me to continue school — to still go through that stress — [but] that stress should be put into motivation for something greater.”
