A view on ‘22

JULIA RoSEboRoUGH

Eighth-grade graduation. Students gather to say goodbye to their middle school, feeling as if they’ve done it all. Little do they know what is in store for them. Throughout their next journey in high school, these young eighth-graders will experience significant social and intellectual changes that will shape the rest of their lives.

With less than one year left, the middle school graduating class of 2018 has gone and grown through three full years of high school. Many seniors find themselves reflecting on how they have changed to best set themselves up for success in their final year of the high school world.

By the start of senior year, many have learned that they have been able to grow socially and find who they want to be surrounded by and how they will continue to use this knowledge for the entirety of the school year.

“As a senior, I found my friends, and I am no longer looking for empty friendships. This year I will focus on academics and friends I can see myself being with long-term goals that will help to make me thrive,” said senior Paige Wellman.

A student’s years in high school are core years of age because they are transitioning from childhood to adulthood. In doing so, these years are essential to social development and will be reflected through the person’s behavior for the entirety of their life.

Others acknowledge their social growth but feel held back by the barriers students have encountered over the past years, such as the pandemic.

“I have grown socially as my group expanded, but I think to some extent the isolation of the pandemic prohibited a bit of the social growth I may have otherwise experienced over the past few years,” said senior Keani Haake.

Although many students have experienced various successes within their high school, others found themselves struggling throughout their high school experiences. Given these struggles, one may have a growth or fixed mindset and choose to learn and grow from these experiences or let them consume people and build a roadblock in their way.

According to growthmindset.com, a growth mindset allows one to continue to develop intelligence and skills over time. In

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KASEY LIU

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2022 now...

contrast, a fixed mindset allows little room for new ideas and developments due to the idea that your intelligence and skills are set in stone. Senior Tyler Young elects to take his losses with an open mindset and use his struggles to move forward.

“I’ve dealt with many problems and learned a lot from them that will mature me and set me up for my future. Although these past years have been rough at times, I’ll live and learn from my mistakes and the challenges I’ve faced in high school,” Young said.

Other students focus more on their academic and intellectual changes. As work gets more complex through the years, students must continue to work harder and grow their knowledge. An essential aspect of this is recognizing learning strategies and figuring out what works best for each individual.

“Starting off freshman year, I lacked good study habits, which was clearly a problem. Over the last three years, I have been able to develop much better study habits, and I am going to continue to use these for the rest of high school and eventually in college as well,” said senior Nate Anson.

According to the essay “School Influence on Children’s Development” by Kathy Sylva, an employee for the Association for Child Psychology and Psychiatry, schooling shows a direct correlation to educational achievement. She writes of how the simple essentials students learn will carry on to their later knowledge and further learning.

Although three years of high school may seem to go by quickly, the academic challenges presented a significant opportunity for growth.

“Academically, I have challenged myself more. As a senior, I can finally start to imagine life past high school. It excites me for what’s ahead, but I know how hard I need to work to get there,” Wellman said.

Along with improving learning abilities, high school also allows students to explore different subjects and further their academic interests. The final goal for many is college, so each person learning about their interests can be very beneficial to their future.

“I’ve learned a lot about what interests me and what I want to pursue for a career. I’m focusing on preparing myself this year to achieve my goals going forward,” said senior Nikita Yentus.

While intellectual and social changes may be very diverse and uncorrelated at first glance, the two are connected as each person cannot deal with one without handling the other.

“I’ve found how to balance my social time with my academic time for this year. When it comes to being social, it’s become a lot easier to both find and stay in touch with genuine friends, which of course makes coming to school more enjoyable as well. As for academics, I can tell I’ve become more comfortable reaching out for help if needed and knowing when it’s important to focus and study and being able to put that into action,” said senior Ava Bozic.

As many look to the future, they reflect on what it took to get to where they are now. The past helps people learn what they must do to progress and excel in the future. The class of 2022 will use their obtained knowledge from high school to continue to succeed.

“Life is about growing, learning, and becoming. You can not grow, learn, or become if you can not embrace the changes in your life,” said Steve Rizzo, an American motivational speaker.