The Final Word
Statesman seniors provide parting words of wisdom
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t’s that time of the year again—we’re cramming for finals, AP tests and wondering how on earth the past few months flew past us. As we seniors start getting ready to pack up our things and head off to begin the next chapter of our lives, we leave our underclassmen with a little bit of heart-felt advice about what we wish we knew earlier in high school. For the incoming sophomores and freshmen, we’ll start off by saying that no, you do not have to have your entire high school career planned out and ready within the first year or so. That’s not to say “throw away your four-year plan” if you already did, but if you haven’t figured out every single detail, that’s completely fine! Your first two years can help you establish what your interests are, what clubs you want to dedicate your time to and a solid group of friends who will support you throughout high school. Don’t spread yourself too thin by joining 15 different clubs—instead, figure out what clubs you truly enjoy, then devote yourself to performing your absolute best in those. This helps to create well-rounded individuals with solid interests and achievements, and it’s something that will help in the long run during college application season. For the incoming juniors and seniors:
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make the most out of your high school experience! You should study hard and maintain your academic standing, of course, but you shouldn’t have to feel selfish about having fun in school in the midst of that. Go to school dances, go to football games and other sporting events and make an effort to connect with different kinds of people. Yes, your ACT scores will matter and how high your GPA is can help you get into your dream college, but it’s okay to take some time for yourself and experience all aspects of the high school experience. In terms of college application season, try not to cram all your essays and supplements toward the very end of your deadlines when you’re applying—learn from our mistakes and actually try brainstorming essay ideas over the summer and connecting with your post-secondary counselors for advice instead of trying to do everything at the last minute. Will being a first semester senior be stressful? Yes. But will it be better if you plan ahead of time and give yourself a chance to stop and smell the roses every once in a while? Also yes. Finally, as corny as it sounds, we encourage you to stop worrying so much about what other people will think of you and to be yourself in high school (bet you didn’t see this one coming).
We’ve all stressed out about what other people will say about us whenever we make any sort of decision in school; that’s totally natural and it’s a painful part of growing up. However, sooner or later, most of us will figure out that people aren’t actually going to judge us or care as much about our choices the way we think they will. Yes, actually. Everyone tends to be more focused on their lives and regardless of whether you believe people will remember what you do forever or not, the truth is that they really won’t. Ultimately, it’s your character that people will remember. Don’t let your fear of others’ thoughts and actions keep you from figuring out yourself, your interests and having a genuinely good time in high school. Your high school career is yours. Without a doubt, high school has been one of the most awkward, embarrassing and wildly transformative phases of our lives by far. But based on our personal experiences, we’ve found that we’ve been able to make some incredible friends, experiences and memories throughout it anyways. We hope you will too.
By Ally Flynn and Malini Pillai
SENIOR ISSUE
