Though senior Sydney Altman should be a student at Aberdeen HS, she said she decided to leave Aberdeen because she “wanted to try something new in a new environment” and she couldn’t be more proud of her decision. She added that being at North Harford opened up more opportunities such as FFA and that she is going to miss the bonds she made with her teachers. 

     Altman got into Suny Cobleskill, Purdue, and University of Maryland University for animal science majors but she mentioned that they were all way too expensive. After doing her research the senior had discovered that careers in animal science wouldn’t make enough money right out of college.

    Recently,  Altman officially committed to Widener University for Chemical Engineering. The senior chuckled as she mentioned that she didn’t “know why [she] choose the chemical engineering major but [she] was inspired by Mrs. Jestel’s love and enthusiasm,” as well as her experience with Chemathon.  She added that she received a scholarship from Widener University for $40,000 each year which will help a lot in the long run. 

     While at Widener, Altman plans to live on campus in the living learning community. She mentioned that living with other engineering majors will give her the opportunity to ask questions so she doesn’t struggle through it alone. The senior is most excited to be in an environment where everyone has the same desire to learn. She added that Widener is not known to be a party school so it will allow her to focus and be able to reach her goals. 

     According to Altman, Widener is adding a prom for the freshman which only built up on the excitement she had. She also plans to continue track and field but since Widener doesn’t have FFA she is unable to continue that. She plans to join many of the clubs that are offered but mentioned that she is very interested in the environmental club they have.

     After her first four years of college the senior has many options that she is debating on. She states that she wants to bring the major back to an Ag related field and thinks pharmaceutical sciences, crop sciences or genetics might be ways to do that.  She added that if she wants to go back to college for more schooling that she would most likely stick with Widener.