By Michael Townsend
Congratulations, you’ve reached the home stretch! Nine years of school down. Four more and then off to college, the military, or whatever path you choose to go down. Your parents won’t believe it, and deep down it’s hard for you to swallow: These are going to be some of the fastest years of your life.
When I was in your shoes the class of 2014 was getting ready to graduate and had an incredibly hectic rally to kick off the year. In fact, it was so rowdy that no one had any idea how the seniors had pulled it off without getting in trouble. Being the eldest sibling, I had no idea what to expect from high school, and I had a lot to learn and see on my own . When I went home after football on the first day it seemed like I had more questions than answers about high school. Now, three years later, the class of 2017 and I are the seniors and you, the class of 2020 are the freshmen. What you saw last Wednesday probably caused you to have similar feelings of confusion. I am here to give you an overview of what the next four years are going to be like.
Freshman year is a transition year from middle school. Freshmen follow the exact same dynamic as they do in middle school: herd mentality, fooling around, being goofy with your friends in class, etc. This year you might get to know a few sophomores pretty well, but due to the age gap you might not get to know too many juniors or seniors, unless you play sports, are involved with clubs, or participate in music ensembles with older kids. After the seniors leave, and the school feels a bit smaller, you may start to have feelings of maturity and belonging within the school community. The rapid pace of the school year will bring out summer vacation before you know it.
The first day of sophomore year is tremendous different than the first day of freshman year. Unlike the past year, you’ll have already spent a year with the new juniors and seniors when they were sophomores and juniors last year. During this school year, the word that will haunt you for both good and bad throughout high school is first uttered by an adult in your life: college. Though the process itself seems light years away, slowly the pressure starts to build throughout the year. All aspects of middle school are now gone from your personality. The large group you were a part of last year has split up into several smaller groups that are more tightly knit. People take their schoolwork more seriously as a result of more honors classes. Not only do you not identify with middle schoolers, but also you start to look down on them. During sophomore year you start to see yourself as an individual with a variety of interests and you are open and enthusiastic about your interests. This year is a great year to develop interests as you start to take more electives as a sophomore.
The second half of sophomore year is a distinct part of high school, so it deserves its own paragraph. At this point, you begin to realize that you are almost halfway done with high school and you get a feel for its pace. The second half of sophomore year is when you begin to see yourself as an individual and not as part of a group. This semester, you start to ponder over the first couple of years of high school as a graduating senior would. Ultimately, you realize that you still have a ways to go and this sort of reflectiveness on high school fades away.
Junior year is the time when all the remaining mystery of high school unravels. This year you will focus primarily on college and start seeing high school has more of a prep institution than an institution in its own right. This year, you may experience a lot of alone time due to the workload, which is greater this year than any other. Junior year brings a lot of opportunity when it comes to developing your own interests. This year offers even more electives and sophomore year does, not surprisingly only surpassed by senior year when it comes to number of electives. Towards the end of junior year you may even have an idea of where you want to go to college. Junior year is by far the most predictable year of high school.
Senior year, from what I’ve heard, is the fastest year of high school. I have yet to experience the majority of it, but I know that the classes are much more individually oriented and that the year goes by in the blink of an eye. late in the fall or early in the winter you know where you are going to college, and you have been on several tours to that location.this year is one of completion, one of reflection of your entire educational career up to that point. After this year, you know that there are people in your class who you may never see again. After getting into college, your motivation takes a vacation for the rest of the year, and passing your classes takes priority over excelling in your classes.
On my graduation day, coming up on June 3, 2017, I will most assuredly look back at the school and think of the four years where I was a member of that community. As you get closer to graduation, don’t press fast forward – practice mindfulness and be aware of the memories you are making as you make them. When it is all over, you will realize just how much you are going to miss about high school.
