By JENNA ETTER, Staff Reporter

The year 2020 has been a wild ride for so many reasons, but  being a part of a graduating class for this year has been absolutely insane. From starting out my senior year as any old year of high school to finishing the second half from home through a screen, experiencing the end of my senior year has definitely been bittersweet. 

As someone who had the mindset of, “I’m just here to pass, get my degree, and move on to bigger things,” the end of my high school years has hit harder than expected. It’s kind of an adrenaline rush knowing that a routine I’ve followed for 13 years has come to a close. However, it’s amazing to think back on the years and realize that I’ve worked so hard to be able to be where I am today. That sounds super sappy, but when the finale hits, you start to realize how much everyone truly grows and learns throughout their high school years. 

I’ve started my sendoff a little over the top, so I’m going to bring it back down for a bit and talk about my high school experiences and some stuff that I’ve learned over the last four years. For any incoming freshman or upcoming upperclassman reading this, I can’t express this enough: go out and hang out with your friends. Don’t be afraid to talk to new people and get to know them, grow closer to your teachers, and build relationships with them. These few years are probably going to be your greatest opportunity to figure out what you enjoy doing. Coming from someone who constantly turned down hanging out with my friends because I felt I wouldn’t get work done and coming from someone who had a routine of procrastination, take some time to relax. It’s so easy to fall down a rabbit hole of procrastinating your work and even though I did it too, it takes a bigger toll on you than you think. So please, go to your friends house, go to the movies that one night, but also get your work done as soon as you can. Don’t put stuff off like I did. It becomes a bigger pain later on, I promise. 

Along with schoolwork, please don’t be afraid to experience new things that may not involve people you currently know. Take classes you think you’d enjoy putting effort into. I’m going to use journalism as my example. I actually have a lot of interest in writing and as many other teenagers, social media plays a big role in my life. I feel like when people think of journalism their mind goes directly to newspapers or the news we see broadcasted on tv. While yes, for the journalism class you write for the school newspaper, but you also get so much insight into using technology and social media to broadcast all types of news. Whether that be your new favorite music album that just dropped or something big affecting the world. I always had an interest in joining the class, however as someone who was never really in a specific friend group, I never did because I didn’t know anyone else who was involved. Looking back on it now, that was probably one of my biggest mistakes of high school. I finally ended up joining the class my senior year and it has been so much fun. Not only does everyone work as a team, but the goal is to treat everyone as family and I think that is so different from any other class and it makes it so much more enjoyable.

Looking back, would I ever want to repeat my high school career? In all honesty, probably not. Did high school have an effect on things like my work ethic and who I am as a person? Absolutely. There’s so much to take away from your years in high school – not only from the classes you take, but from the people you meet. While many teenagers hear this on a daily basis (including me), keeping your grades up is so important in the long run. I know hearing, “keep your grades up,” makes some people roll their eyes, trust me, I did and sometimes still do the same, it really is important for your future especially if you plan on going somewhere like a college you’d love to experience. However, don’t stress over the small things. If you end up getting a bad grade on a test, don’t sweat it too much. Figure out what you did wrong, don’t be afraid to ask your teachers for help, and study a little harder or maybe try a new method and knock out your next test. Make sure that you’re also keeping your time balanced and making sure you’re having fun with friends and creating new memories. From a senior to any underclassman, just try your best and be yourself. Not only is that great advice for school, it is important to be the best version of yourself for the rest of your life.