The time that seniors have waited all year for has finally arrived- college commitments. Having heard back from all the multitude of schools they applied to and now the decision is theirs. Tours, pro-con lists and gut feelings have led seniors to make their decisions; they can share them with the world through the student-run social media account, Beyond The Bulldog. Showcasing a picture of the seniors along with their college, major and a baby photo, Beyond The Bulldog is the perfect way to celebrate the hard work that has led seniors to their college commitments.
“I love Beyond the Bulldog,” WCHS senior Annika Shauf said. “I think it has become such a fun tradition and is a good way to keep up with where everyone is going next year. I love getting to comment under them and support everyone’s accomplishments.”
Getting posted on the account is a very simple process. A student can simply click the link in the bio, submit where they are going, their major and a current and baby photo. They also require a photo of the student’s admission letter to ensure authenticity.
“It was super easy to get my photo posted on the account,” WCHS senior Sydney Barrett said. “I submitted everything and sent them a message to let them know I had sent it in and it was uploaded within a couple of hours.”
Although the work of the Beyond the Bulldog account is highly valued and appreciated, the identity of the pagerunner is completely unknown. Many wonder who takes the time to carefully craft these posts, but no one has found an answer.
“I wonder a lot who could run the page,” Shauf said. “I got a follow request from the account around this time last year, so whoever owns the account has been planning on taking on the responsibility for a long time.”
The responsibility of owning the account is a great one. Once April hits, many submissions a day are coming into the account and it is important to not let them pile up. Organization is key as all the posts are laid out and sorted into individual story highlights by state. The pressure is on to make the page run smoothly, as there would be no delay or backlash from WCHS students if anything were to go wrong.
“It must be so much work to run the account,” Barrett said. “Especially now, they are multiple times a day and keep up with everything while balancing all of the other stress that comes with this time of year. WCHS students can get frustrated [quickly] when things take too long or are not how they want them to be, so the account has done a great job keeping up.”
Overall, the Beyond the Bulldog account is an honored and appreciated tradition that WCHS has. Students, parents and teachers alike all value the time put in so that every student can be honored in their way as well as allowing everyone to stay updated with their peers’ decisions.
I love knowing where my students are going to college because once they are no longer in my class I don’t see them as often to check in,” WCHS Social Studies teacher Debra Feldman said. “It is so fun to see the students’ accomplishments and successes!”
