Kimberly Cano, a junior at Hawthorne High School, will be attending HHS next year while also attending William Paterson University (WPU) .

Cano has well-thought-out reasons for wanting to attend college during her senior year of high school. She believes that she can better her future plans by starting her post-secondary education early. Overall, Cano believes this journey will help her be a step ahead in life, find herself, and prove to herself that she can accomplish any goals she sets.

In order to begin this unique process, Cano independently took her first steps. First, she researched WPU and found that as long as she fulfilled the requirements, she could become a “visiting” student, which means she is a college student at WPU that attends another educational institute as well. She then proceeded to speak with her HHS guidance counselor, Denise Puccio, who supported Cano’s decision for her senior year. Cano realized she had met the college qualifications as a visiting student: a minimum B-plus average in all classes and a minimum score of 100/1000 on PSAT/SAT. She then submitted her application and high school transcript and was then accepted into William Paterson University.

Cano says the process was difficult. “It was hard because WPU counselors are always busy. I also had to meet HHS requirements. The hardest part was allowing my dream to be in the hands of others, trusting a person to get something done–when I was used to doing things on my own.”

While attending WPU during her senior year of high school, Cano will be studying the Japanese language, culture, and artwork. Specifically, she will be studying the Japanese language and music. Although Cano doesn’t know her schedule yet, her senior year at HHS and WPU will more than likely consist of her traveling between campuses throughout the day with morning classes at HHS and afternoon classes on the WPU campus.

Throughout this whole process, Cano knew that WPU would be the right choice for her because it is close to home so she can either drive there or take a bus. She also was very impressed with their Asian studies program and, to top it off, she says they have a GREAT library.

After college, Cano’s ambition is to be able to own her own bookstore. She wants to sell all genres of books to all kinds of readers, but, of course, she will have a special place for the Japanese literature she admires.