BEAR
WITNESS
SPECIAL SENIOR EDITION
Four years gave us room to grow
W
BY JULIA KOLMAN
hen I reflect on who I was fresh-
man year, I wish I could give my
former self some crucial pieces of advice. You will struggle academically and socially. There are infinite obstacles you will overcome. Some of your friendships will fall through, and that’s okay. You don’t need to be perfect. It’s okay to question your values. Your plans for the future will change. Life gets hard, but it gets better, as well. Breathe. I endured a great deal of anxiety at the beginning of my high school career. I strived for perfection, and beat myself up for anything short of it. And I could have used those words. Each senior has faced their own obstacles and has a unique story to share. Most of the senior class would give similar pieces of advice to their former selves. In a Bear Witness survey that 181 seniors responded to, students submitted one piece of advice that they would tell their freshman self. Most of the advice can be categorized as academic,
Inside
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Senior map
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Senior awards
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Siblings say goodbye
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social, and personal advice, and ranges from urging themselves to not take a particular class, to intimate conversations they wish they could have. The advice we needed and lessons we’ve learned have shaped us into the graduating seniors we are now. Many of the seniors who submitted their advice described a lesson learned. Esperanza Herrera-Rivera says that she would tell herself to not allow her shy nature to prevent her from being successful. As a freshman, she feared that her peers would judge her, and therefore did not speak up at school. “I would let my shyness build up to a point where I felt like everyone was judging me,” Esperanza says. “So I would never raise my hand. I wouldn’t sit in the front of the class, even though I needed glasses.” Like Esperanza, other seniors recall perSEE GROWTH • PAGE 6
Keepsakes, real and virtual
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Highs and lows through life
