High school students do not have to conform to given labels

High school is about the experiences, whether they are with certain people or certain activities. During high school, people find it enticing to label people.

By labeling, everyone is divided into different social classes and then high school becomes a food chain. It is important not to become the label you are supposedly given. The most important thing is that one needs to stay true to themselves, no matter what is being said.

Throughout my high school experience I have been labeled as…well, let’s just say it rhymes with witch. I always say the truth and people do not always like what I have to say. In my opinion, it is me telling the truth to those that need to hear it. The only important thing is that it does not hurt me, knowing that this is what people think of me. I remember that I know who I am and no one can change the opinion I have of myself.

A part of high school is not only letting things that are said about you roll off your back but also being independent. Everyone will have those days when they are going to hate everything and everyone, but having days to be secluded from people is sometimes a good thing. You are not always going to have your friends there to walk to class with you or build up your self esteem. The only person that can do that is you.

Let high school be four years of finding independence. Do not let what people label you as bring you down. High school is supposedly the best years of your young life; so make them the best years of your adolescent life.

Fondness of high school came after realizing what was missing

This is the last opportunity I will ever have to share my opinion through this publication and, at first, I had absolutely no idea what to write about. There are so many things that I want to say to my teachers and friends, but I simply don’t have enough space for it. In fact, many things about my high school career have been defined by not having enough of something.

As a freshman, I didn’t have enough maturity. Everyone viewed my classmates and me as immature, goofy freshman who could only hope to be as cool and successful as the older students.

As a sophomore, I didn’t have enough influence. There were tons of clubs I wanted to join and changes I wanted to make but I hadn’t proven myself just yet.

As a junior, I didn’t have enough freedom. The days of curfews and being grounded seemed to be well behind me but the freedom of college was still far out of reach.

And as a senior, I haven’t had enough time. It’s funny how drastically my perspective has changed throughout the last four years as I grew from an awkward, unsure 15 year old to a confident 18 year old with plans and expectations for my future.

But despite all of my preparation for the years to come, I can’t shake the feeling that I didn’t get enough time at this school. I have enjoyed my career here so completely that I almost, almost hate to leave when I’m just being able to appreciate it.

It is hard to see, when you are still an underclassman, how truly lucky we are to attend a school with teachers who really care about their subjects and students, athletic and academic programs that see success year after year and a community that keeps us safe and shows us so much support.

I wish that I could spend more time enjoying those things and forming more memories here, but the future calls. Pretty soon I will be a college student who doesn’t have enough money and, after that, an adult who doesn’t have enough fun. But until then, what I have is just enough.

Missteps have shaped high school

On the first day of high school, I tripped walking up the front sidewalk.

It wasn’t a flat-on-your-face trip that you laugh about with your peers as they help you up. It was a discreet, didn’t-see-that-curb-there kind of trip that only took a moment to recover from. Or so I thought.

Aside from embarrassing myself in front of the cheerleaders who were greeting the freshmen, my tiny blunder actually set a standard for what was to come throughout high school.

The next time I “tripped” was a year later when I found myself in a class called Beginning Journalism, an experience which would define the rest of my high school career. When teacher Kathy Habiger asked me to join the newspaper staff, I unknowingly began a headlong plunge into the best accident that could have ever befallen me. I cannot spend enough time thanking the people who have put up with my fumbles, or helped me up off the ground to make me a better journalist. Journalism is by far the best tumble I have ever taken, and if I remember anything from my time here, it will be the lessons I learned in C-101.

I’ve lost my footing several other times too, with less graceful results. I let myself get frustrated, tired and stressed much too often. I tried too hard to go full steam ahead, which often led to my biggest blunders. Had I moved a little slower, I would’ve seen many obstacles before I stumbled into them head-on. Some of them I would have been able to walk peacefully around. Sometimes, though, I needed to lose my balance. Sometimes it made me a better person.

These past four years have been characterized by my missteps. I won’t look back and remember when everything was going smoothly, but when I was flung out of my comfort zone and forced to grow as a person. As for tripping on that first day of school freshman year, I would like my last comment to go to the cheerleader that giggled at my discomfort and said, “Well, that’s awkward.”

You’re right. It was. And it was totally worth it.

High school has helped set me up for future successes

Thirteen years of preparation have led me to tomorrow – graduation. This pivotal moment didn’t come easily; there have been loads of struggles here and there. But, high school works to prepare us for the difficult tasks that lie ahead of each of us. I have struggled with being motivated like everyone but, having a goal in high school, like being President of the United States, has taught me to strive for the best.

I have experienced the uncertainty and tension about what lies ahead, just like the rest of the class. There was even a point when I thought I could do anything just by trying, but it takes so much more than that to succeed. I am going to a great school, but it isn’t where I saw myself even three months ago. It hurt to be rejected from Georgetown University, but it is the instruction I have received here that has taught me to overcome the challenges of life, to fail, and then to get back up.

But, high school is about falling and getting back up, just like it was when I got rejected. It is about the challenges you are faced with and your ability to learn from them, and that is what prepares us for such tasks like a career and college in the future. I saw the failure in myself, but I couldn’t let it keep me down forever, it is time to move on.

I’m afraid for the future, I am afraid of going to college and leaving my family and friends, but high school has trained me, and hopefully the rest of the class, to not be afraid to fail. Tomorrow we conquer our biggest goal, graduating. The fear of what comes after is just like the fear of starting each year. I know we can do it together, because I truly do feel we are prepared by the staff and the school to do so, and for that I am forever grateful.

High school stop motion

Seniors Ceci Fyock and Madeline Webb created their interpretation of a journey through high school using stop motion for video production class.