If there’s one thing I’ve learned from High School, it is that sometimes the little moments matter more than the big ones. Memories like going out to eat with my team after track meets are some of my most cherished parts of high school. As seniors in May, we have pretty much made it to the end. Done with A-lot traffic jams, caffeine-fueled late nights (for now), and awkward hallway encounters. We have picked up a few lessons along the way, so here is some advice we wish someone had told us.
After conducting some interviews with my classmates, it seems like advice generally falls into 3 categories: social, student life, and academic.
“Treat people with kindness, because if you’re rude to people in your early high school years, bridges might not be rebuilt,” advised senior Ayden Welch.
Similarly, he also advises to give people second chances, as people can change a lot during high school.
“I think students should always show up on time but also you should give people the benefit of the doubt, you never really know what someone is going through,” said senior Gage Minne.
Gage showed up 54 minutes late to class the day he gave that quote. Other seniors gave anecdotes like “seek help if you need it” and “ask questions” which I think sums up what you should be doing in high school. Everyone around you wants to see you succeed. Nobody is going to remember if you advocated for yourself or not, so you should take advantage of this environment while you can.
I think you should also take advantage of student life in high school while you still can. Why not right? It’ll be more fun than you think I promise.
“You should try to go to all the different sports games,” agreed senior Ava Vasquez.
Senior Isabelle Chabinyc had two pieces of advice. First she said that “if the grades don’t touch, neither should you.” She also says to join a club before your junior year and other senior Miles Moore agrees, advising students to get as involved as you can. I think it is a great idea to find your area of interest, whether a sport, ASB, or theatre, find your niche. What this boils down to is that you should just try to enjoy high school while you can. You only have four years, and while you may dislike parts of it, you are never going to be in an environment like this again. You have an amazing support system and an easy way to feel like you are part of something, both things that are not guaranteed forever.
In proper senior fashion, several people that I asked gave responses to the question regarding advice in four words or less. Some of my favorites were senior Sophia Llewelyn’s simple “good luck” presumably talking about the difficulties of junior and senior year as well as senior Hattie Valdez Lindgren’s advice to “lock in.” Thank you Hattie. Finally, a student that wishes to remain anonymous reminds you, “don’t try too hard.” If you are planning to go to college, once you’ve finished the application process, senior year doesn’t matter that much. While it is still important to apply yourself sometimes, make sure you have a lot of fun too. Go see friends after school, go to the dances, participate in senior activities, and just take it all in.
