The Wessex Wire
Senior Edition
The Student Newspaper of West Essex Regional High School
West Essex High School, 65 West Greenbrook Rd., North Caldwell, N.J.
Senior Edition 2015
Saving the bests for the last year By Ben Lowenthal, Editor-in-Chief
After numerous attempts of trying to write this reflection, I have realized that I cannot sum up my entire high school experience in one article. I probably couldn’t even do it in 10 articles. This came as a surprise to me, because I never considered myself to be overly involved in, well, anything. My senior year marked a lot of firsts for me–events that most people cross off their high school bucket lists within freshman and sophomore year. My first football game. My first color day where I actually tried. My first threesport year. All things that I desperately wish I had done much earlier in my high school career. But until one of you, probably Akash, builds a time machine, I’m not going to be able to go back and re-do high school. I think I’m okay with that though. Sure, not every year was
the best year of my life, and I definitely did not live every day like it was my last, but I think what I accomplished in high school proves something. It proves that it’s never too late. It’s never too late to try something new, meet different types of people and step out of your comfort zone. As the freshman who flinched when he made eye contact with seniors, it has been tough leaving my comfort zone, but look how far I’ve come. Now I only flinch a little bit. Don’t take this as a message telling you to put everything off until the end. If you’re lucky enough to find yourself with great opportunities, take them. They might not always be there. But as the year winds down and I look back on high school, I think about what I’ve accomplished (and what I haven’t). I met a lot of new people, tried a lot of new things and made a lot of memories. That’s all that you can really take from the high school experience.
The finish line is near By Bryan Gallion, Editor-in-Chief
My first vivid memory from high school took place on a blistering August morning in 2011. It was my first day of cross country practice as a freshman and I had no idea what I was getting myself into. We ran a timed 5K and I finished within the top seven male runners, which gave me a shot of having a varsity spot – a huge honor for a freshman. It was in this moment that I realized that running would have a huge impact on my high school career and the person that I would become over the next four years. This first season of cross country was when I fell in love with running, and I decided to join the winter and spring track teams later that year. While the 1600 meter run became my specialty, the track became my home. My high school experience can be compared to the 1600 meter run; there are four laps of the 1600 and four years of high school. The first lap, freshman year, was where I was just getting used to the pace. High
school teachers were stricter than the ones that taught me in middle school, and I admired my older, more experienced teammates on the track. I tried to hold my pace during my sophomore lap, but school became more difficult with the addition of more Honors and Advanced Placement courses. The third lap, junior year, was unarguably the hardest to handle and felt like the longest, slowest lap. School and standardized tests consumed all of my time, while the thought of college began to cross my mind. Despite the stress induced by school, noticing that my younger teammates began to look up to me showed me that I was no longer playing follow the leader – I was now the leader. I pushed through this crucial third lap to make it to the fourth lap: senior year. The final lap always feels like it ends in the blink of an eye. The stress and anxiety brought on by all of my responsibilities – applying to college, maintaining high grades, serving as editor-in-chief of the Wessex Wire, being a three-season athletic captain, holding the position of National
Honor Society President – felt unbearable at times, but I knew that I had to fight through the pain. The finish line was near. As I sprint down the homestretch of this four-year race that I just endured, I look back on my high school experience and appreciate all of the friendships and memories that I have created. Yes, the going got tough more often than I could have anticipated, but I would not change a thing. Each difficult event only made me stronger. Going out on a whim and joining the cross country team my freshman year changed me for the better because being a runner is so central to who I am today. It made me physically stronger, but more importantly it pushed me to become mentally tough. I do not know what the future may hold for me, but I am excited to embark on a new journey in my life and am ready to tackle whatever challenges life throws at me next. These 1600 meters of high school have greatly prepared me for the next four-lap race that I will run: college.