The Highlander
Page 19
CARLMONT CHANGES
May 2016
2016 Changes to Carlmont New Principal
Ralph Crame began his first year as principal in the 2015-2016 school year. This was a promotion for Crame; previously, he was Carlmont’s instructional vice principal.
New Mascot
New year, new mascot. 2016 brought new changes to the face of our beloved mascot Carl Monty. He also expanded his social media presence.
New Schedule
Construction
Beginning in the fall of 2016, students with six periods will begin class at 8:57 A.M. on regular days and at 9:47 A.M. on Wednesdays.
Coming soon to Carlmont will be a new student drop off, a remodeled cafeteria, and locker room upgrades in the Terry Stogner Gym and S-wing. ESTELLA LIPPI AND CONNOR LIN
Leaving high school provides new opportunities Kian Karamdashti In less than one month, we will conclude a 13-year chapter of our lives. Many of us will leave the world we have known for our whole lifetime for an unfamiliar environment we have never experienced before. We will say goodbye. In about three months, we will begin a new chapter of our lives. We will surround ourselves with a new environment, with a new set of people, and a whole new collection of ideas. In the past will be our old ways of life. We will say hello. Maybe I’m overreacting. High school is four years of our lives. Let’s say the average American will live for 80 years. If we do the math, four years will represent 5 percent of our whole lives. That’s an insignificant part of our lives, right? Yes and no. High school should by no means define who you are. After all, it is a place where hundreds of adolescent students are grouped together to learn not only calculus and literature, but to educate themselves through life experiences. Mistakes are made and lessons are learned. At the end of the day, high school is where one hopefully learns how to properly transition into adulthood. It is a temporary chapter in the great novel of our lives. But as you guided yourself through your own chapter in your own separate story, if you looked up, you would find others. More than 2,200, in fact, also looking to find their way in the world. Possibly put together by simi-
lar interests, classes, or chance, you couldn’t help but build a relationship with some of these people. Together you took on the daily tasks and challenges presented to a modern-day high school student. You may not share the same views or goals as the people you surround yourself with in high school, but the things you will share are the experiences and memories. You won’t be the only one who will remember the heartbreaking CCS losses, all of the inside jokes held, the occasional spontaneous late-night roof climbing, and the trouble you got in for that spontaneous late-night roof climbing. You may not recognize it now, but these are the experiences that
shape who you are today, and who you will be in the future. Life goes on, and there’s nothing you can do about it. However, the memories made in high school will last forever, and connect you to the people you shared that memory with. So yes, high school is such a small, insignificant part of our lives. Yet, it is completely significant. Let’s go back to the math we did earlier. High school will (hopefully) only take up four years of your life, and it takes place in a time when you are still not allowed to go to the bathroom whenever you choose. Surely, you can’t expect someone to look back on a fouryear period like that and say, “I
changed a lot.” But think about it. Do you remember your first day of school? Wide-eyed, and whether you’d like to admit or not, a little bit scared, you entered campus not knowing what to expect out of a place you’d only really experienced on the television. If we take a step back and look at ourselves - days away from graduation, we’ll be able to see all that has changed. Physically and mentally we have grown, some of us have even grown hair on our face. We’ve experienced proms and formals. We have jobs. We have our licenses! We have the key to going wherever we want to go, literally, in the palm of our hands. (Whether our parents agree with that statement
ESTELLA LIPPI
Senior Mario Valenzuela reflects on his four years of high school during passing a period.
is questionable, but you get the point.) We have adapted to new-found responsibilities and freedoms we never could have imagined when we were that puny, 14-year-old kid. For many, we finally are coming into our own as we adjust to our growing lives in this safe environment we call home. And now, it’s pretty much over. As the long drawn-out cliche goes, “when one door closes, another one opens.” Only this time, this open door is full of opportunity The world is much bigger than what lies in Belmont or San Carlos, California. There’s new things to do, new people to see, new places to visit, all out there for us. We just have to go out there and do it. So, if the prospect of walking across that stage in a few weeks and receiving your diploma saddens you, know that bigger things are on the horizon. To those that can’t wait one more single day to leave, slow down, soak in these last few days, and cherish the memories you have. After all, these are the last few times you will ever get to walk the tiring quad stairs, eat the same spicy chickens, or revolt in disgust at the state of the C-hall bathroom. In a few months, even the numerous daily annoyances of high school life will represent familiar comforts that you will oddly miss. So now to Carlmont, I sadly say goodbye. To what lies in the future, I stand with an open mind and open arms.