Graduation is coming up and it’s almost time for the seniors to wipe those tears off and start a path to a brand new destination.

Seniors Neha Dhir, David Hawley, Lisa Dudley and Lauren Pearce have all decided that California wasn’t the place to be, and have chosen to go to a school abroad.

Many students decide to attend school abroad because they want to revisit their roots and return to where they were born.

Neha was born in India and will be attending Manipal University, where she will be studying medicine in hopes of becoming a surgeon. She feels that India would be a better place for her to study and concentrate.

“I think students can get easily distracted here,” said Neha. “In India, everyone is so competitive, I have to study.”

After four years of studying, she plans to come back to the U.S. and continue her studies in New York or Miami.

David has chosen to go to Heriot Watt University in Scotland as a mechanical engineer major. He wasn’t born in Scotland, but wanted to experience another European culture other than his own.

“I was born (in Europe) so it’s a great way to go back and live there,” said David. “Especially since my parents are paying for some of it.”

He plans on living in Southern California after four years of school in Scotland.

Like David, Lauren is headed for Europe, where she was a native of Wales until she was six years old. Lauren will attend the London College of Fashion.

While in London, she hopes to find a job and some connections.She believes that London is the best place to breed into the fashion world.

“I’m really into fashion,” said Lauren. “Although I love San Francisco, London is a much better place and environment to learn fashion in.”

Lisa is heading over to Spain to attend St. Louis University.

“I wanted to major in Spanish,” said Lisa. “The university is an American school, so I still get an American degree.”

She will be staying there for four years and is still debating whether or not she will be coming back to California.

With 2008 being one of the toughest years for students to get accepted into any college, Cal High is proud to have over 50 percent of its students attending four-year universities, said Principal Mark Corti at Senior Awards Night.

With a good number of students attending top UC schools such as UC Berkeley and UCLA, Cal High is also fortunate to have students heading for east coast schools.

Senior Philip Ludlow is one of the 1,100 students who were offered appointments to the prestigious United States Military Academy at West Point.

“Over 12,000 students applied,” said West Point representative Colonel Gerald Brunn at Cal’s Senior Awards Night. “Many appointees receive nominations from congressional members.”

Dmitry Kislyuk was fortunate enough to be accepted by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The rigorous institution accepts only 11.6 percent of applicants annually, according to The Princeton Review.

“It is ranked the best engineering school in the country, arguably the world,” said Dmitry about his number one choice college.

The Princeton Review named MIT as the third most difficult college in which to get accepted.

Although University of Pennsylvania was named eighth hardest college to get into by The Princeton Review, senior Paul Lyandres was fortunate enough to get accepted to U. Penn’s Wharton School of Business, which is ranked number one in the nation.

“It was a rigorous process that began freshman year,” said Paul about getting into U. Penn. “It took a tremendous amount of time and dedication, but it paid off in the end.”

Senior Lucy Pearson is headed for Northwestern University this fall. Students accepted at this prestigious east coast university are always labeled as top of their class.

They are noteworthy for their high academic achievement, leadership roles, and extracurricular activities.

“I’m excited to go for the experience of it being out of state and in a new environment,” said Lucy.