Welcome to Real College Talk! RCT is your destination for honest and relevant college and postsecondary conversation. Nikhil takes it back to the long-gone high school days by introducing his classmates and friends Bailey Hittner and Ana Coronado, who share what led them to branch out with their life after high school (0:30). Ana and Bailey tackle the issue of establishing individuality in high school, especially when there’s pressure to follow the mainstream (7:53), and how that ultimately impacted each of their career choices (9:58). They discuss the balancing act of academic and social life, particularly among students who are highly-driven and academically successful (13:05). Finally, they brought to light the negative perceptions that many successful athletes face in the classroom (19:10) and their parting words of wisdom for current high school students (22:57). Bailey would’ve never forgiven Nikhil if he forgot about social media shoutouts so jump to the end to find out how to get connected with @baelizzle (25:30).

Real College Talk is a podcast that you won't want to miss! To catch every episode, make sure to hit the subscribe button and turn on our notifications. You can follow us on Instagram @realcollegetalk and follow our co-hosts @morgs__anne and @nikhil.vn. We are always working on new content, so be on the lookout for our latest episodes. In the meantime, Keep It Real!