8 minute read
Words from the way out
As the year comes to a close, highlights members reflect on the past year and offer insight into next year.
SOPHOMORES
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By: Melanie Nuñez, Staff Writer
After narrowly surviving the occasional horrors of freshman year, sophomore year can seem like a long-awaited and well-deserved rest. Although this is true, sophomore year can also be the perfect opportunity to learn from the mistakes of your freshman year, developing a strong work ethic that will help you thrive in the coming year and put you on a path to discovering your true passions and desired career choice.
Now that the stress of starting at a new school and adapting to a new environment is lifted off your shoulders, sophomore year allows you to put your focus on the things that interest you. Although it may seem scary and even overwhelming, discovering the things that you are passionate about is what will make the rest of your high school experience truly fun and enriching.
Join a club, sport or organization that sparks excitement and curiosity in you. Explore opportunities offered not only at school but all over the community and city. Sophomore year is the perfect chance to explore new creative and intellectual endeavours considering that you do not have the pressures of adapting to a new environment that accompanies freshman year or the momentous stress of college preparations common during junior year.
Also, remember to take sophomore year as a chance to improve your work ethic. Now that freshman year is over, it is expected of you to be responsible for your work and you must be able to manage your time efficiently. Sophomore year is an opportune time to cast aside bad habits that result in unproductivity and procrastination and replace them with useful study patterns and organizational skills. Something that might come in handy when attempting to establish productive work habits is keeping a detailed planner to help organize your week for maximum efficiency. By working in advance, creating schedules, and limiting distractions, procrastination will prove to be much easier to control.
Although sophomore year may seem like it lacks any true challenges or as if it is the simplest year of high school, this mindset may lead to rationalizations and hurt the quality of your work. Think of sophomore year as a year to prepare for what is going to be expected of you in the coming year, which includes being more responsible with assignments and deadlines and dealing with a large workload that mimics college-level tasks. If done right, these new skills will help you manage your way through junior year.
With proper preparation and determination, sophomore year is nothing to fear. Be open to new opportunities, learn from your mistakes and take chances that may help you find your calling. Sophomore year is often taken for granted, so appreciate the many opportunities it can offer you and the time it gives you to grow as a person. h
JUNIORS
By: Sharon Florez, Staff Writer
Throughout your school experience, it is probable that junior year will be the most intense year you face. Everyone will warn you of the same things — to avoid procrastination, perfect time management and prioritize doing homework on time — but preparing academically is only part of making junior year successful.
Besides the mountains of workload which you have no choice but to deal with, you will become more self-aware and see the world through a different lense. You will experience moments of existential dread and anxiety, feeling like a slave to the system, and seriously questioning whether all your work is worth anything. Still, you will learn more about how the world works, the different paths you can take in life, and you will begin making significant connections as you branch out and try new things.
Your friendships this year will be taken to the next level. You will make new memories, meet new people and experience how exciting being a teenager is. This year can truly help you make future connections in the professional world, through internships or people you know going into fields relevant to the ones you may wish to pursue.
Try to take it one step at a time. Many times you will not want to complete assignments, but try to save senioritis for senior year. You will feel like giving up because there is so much on your plate. Even if the future feels distant, it is important to remember that it is influenced by the decisions you are taking in the present.
Keep in mind the importance of being in touch with what good mental health means and how to de-stress in healthy ways. You will be exposed to different kinds of coping mechanisms, many of which can be harmful to you and others around you. Instead of giving in, appreciate nature, go on walks alone, or even get a cat. You could also join a sport, do yoga or meditate to stay mindful and help with feelings of being overwhelmed.
It is also important to remember that you are not the only person that will be feeling the pressure, everyone else will be too, so reach out to friends, family and trusted teachers for support and guidance when you need it. Your friends who share similar classes to you can help you, and if you have older friends that have already passed your current classes, their advice can come in handy.
You have probably heard that junior year is what “makes or breaks” you. And this is true — you will make mistakes, you will break down, and probably consider dropping out. Still, you will have moments of victory and accomplishment, laughter and joy. Most importantly, you will get through it, one day at a time, having built character and resilience in the process.
SENIORS
By: Alexander Sutton, Staff Writer
You have made it through five years of elementary school, three more of middle school and three of high school. Your entire academic career has been building up to this moment: the final stretch, the 12th year of school. Senior year — probably, the last time you’ll ever have to wake up before 7 a.m. for class. What many underclassmen and juniors don’t know about senior year, however, is that even though it can be the easiest year of high school for some, it’s the hardest year at the same time.
Everybody knows why the last year of high school is the best: prom, senior picnic, Grad Bash, your GPA being ‘frozen’. But the struggles that come along with being in your final year often come as an unexpected slap in the face to juniors eager for the senior-year experience.
A tough part about getting through senior year is knowing that after four years of perseverance, you’re going to have to do it all over again the next year. College looms over all seniors from even before the first day of school, and it’s all too easy to let the fear of the unknown paralyze you — but the best way to make it through the college admissions process is to work on your college essays and applications well before they’re due and to remember that Ms. Driver is always there if you have questions or feel lost.
Senioritis is another struggle unique to the final year of high school, and it threatens to derail all the hard work you’ve done in the past three years. Senioritis is real, and chances are high that you will get it. If you prepare for the lack of motivation you’ll face in advance, then when senioritis hits, you won’t be thrown off track. Make a game-plan to help yourself focus so that you can return to it when you find yourself distracted, and when you begin to feel less motivated, remind yourself that there are only a few months left..
The benefits of being a senior, however, are far greater than any struggle that the year might bring. Seniors get the best activities and field trips, hands down. Grad Bash can be an expensive trip, but it’s worth the cost. Having the opportunity to spend some of your final months with your best friends at Universal Studios is the perfect way to connect with those who mean a lot to you. Senior picnic, which your newly elected student government has promised to bring back, is a high school student’s dream: coming to school in swimming clothes, watching movies in the auditorium, free cereal in unlimited quantity and outdoor games to play on the field. Prom, too, is a quintessential high school experience that comes along with senior year. If there’s one year to not break the 10/20 rule, it’s this one!
So, on Aug. 24, 2020, march proudly into school with a crown on your head. It may only be made of cardboard, but that crown is much more than an obnoxious senior year tradition. Having the privilege to wear one of those crowns signifies the hard work you’ve done for three years, and the excitement that the year has yet in store.
