May 1 marks the day many students across the country choose where they will call home for the next four years.

This decision is typically nerve-wracking for students — especially this year due to the issues with financial aid.

To make sure students have all the tools they need to make the best decisions, one local high school has introduced a program that will do just that.

There’s one class for sophomores at Livonia High School that is preparing them for college in a different way than most.

“I wasn’t really thinking about, like, what I have to do like after like high school, and I never thought it was that important,” said Kiley Tumminelli, Livonia sophomore.

Sophomore Owen Austin added: “Before, I just kind of made a decision without going through all the different steps.”

Partnering with the Alliance for Decision Education, Livonia is one of five schools in the nation that received a grant to create a college and career decision-making incubator course.

“We make decisions every day. I think I really feel strongly that this work around decision making is something that in education we should start earlier,” Assistant Superintendent Nicole McGarry said.

In the beginning, students like Sophie Beikirch didn’t even know they were enrolled.

“I kind of just opened up my schedule and it was there, and I didn’t really know what it was about until we got there on the first day of school,” she said.

By learning about their values and interests as well as visiting different colleges, the students were taught different skills that apply not only to their education, but to their personal lives as well.

“Some people can be judgmental and they’re like, that’s a weird field to go into — but it kind of opened your eyes to, like, well, after school like you’re gonna wanna do something that you actually wanna do, and you wanna make … a true decision on what’s gonna make you the happiest,” Sophie said.

As the first semester of the program comes to an end, the school is already planning for its future.

“So it’s already in our schedule for next year. We’re going to do some work this summer. I’m just kind of thinking about how to adjust the curriculum a little bit to better meet the needs of the students, but yeah, we’re really excited,” McGarry said.

School staff say they hope to expand this program in the future in order to teach smart decision making to all ages.