As our juniors recently finished their ACT exams, I found myself thinking about what it really means to be ready for college. Around this time each year, there is a certain rhythm to campus life. Students are filling out scholarship forms, polishing essays, and beginning to imagine what comes next. It is an exciting time, full of possibilities.

But behind every acceptance letter is a story that is often unseen. The long hours, the late nights, the quiet moments when a student decides to keep going even when it is hard. Those are the moments that shape them. At St. John’s Northwestern, we see that part of the journey every day.