We’re All In This Together- A High School Retrospective
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you, the graduating class of 2023. Ok, not quite yet. We’ve still got a few days before we walk the stage and get our diplomas. It’s absolutely crazy to think that high school is almost over. We had our senior awards ceremony this past week, and there are only a few short days before commencement. Now, it’s time to move on to bigger and better things. But first, it’s nice to look back at the past four years.
There’s been a lot that happened these past four years, and obviously one of the big ones was COVID. “Our senior year was our only normal year of high school,” explained fellow senior Juhan Taylor. “The lowest of lows was doing school during COVID.”
I don’t think any of us expected that 2-week break we got in March of 2020 to go on for so many months. That being said, there were some bright spots.
One of the biggest bright spots was the teachers. Some that came to mind were Madame Stamper, who tried her best to teach us despite the limitations of Google Meets. Another was Ms. Meier, who not only let us play Among Us in the Google Meet before class but also played with us once or twice.
Juhan mentioned another happy moment from freshman year: “[I liked] playing at the All City concert, with all four of the South Bend Community School high schools,” He remembered. “That was pretty neat. And performing in Little Shop of Horrors that one day that we did.” As someone who was at that single opening night performance, I can confirm that it was amazing.
Freshman and sophomore years all kind of blended into one. There were still some great moments, and a lot of the sophomore year moments came out of Chem 1 with Ms. Meier. One of my personal favorite moments was Valedictorian Tiffany Schmok putting on a puppet show with the lab equipment for us online people after the classes had switched to hybrid.
But coming back after over a year of doing school alone in my bedroom for my Junior year was amazing. There were so many things that happened, some highs and lows, as usual, but it was glorious. I had a great time winning the Riley Readers Book Club competition with Juhan and our other teammate Mila Kaser. But my favorite moment is shared, not just with me, but the other senior I spoke with (and probably more). When I asked Nico Daeger what his favorite moments were, he immediately said, “Jesse running into a locker for fun.” I have to admit, that was an iconic moment for our class. Everyone had seen the video, it was amazing.
Of course, senior year was filled with a lot of fun as well. As Juhan put it, “Senior year has been… stressful, but it's been all one big happy moment… there are some things that are negative that have happened for my senior year, but it was definitely all one big happy moment.” I can agree. Not everything was good, nothing is always good. But overall, this year was the happiest I’ve had in a long time. This year was just extremely fun.
Nico agreed. When talking about his favorite moments, he explained, “Basically just anytime I got to mess around with people, and still in a safe way, feel like a kid. I mean, especially looking at it from an outside perspective and being like that's probably the last time I'll get to be a kid and enjoy just messing around with people.” We’ve got to be adults now, and we’ll all have more responsibilities. It’s a good thing that most of us were able to get to be young and have fun before we begin the next chapter of our lives.
Pictured: Me, Jesse Kirkland, Willim Larock and Nico Daeger at the ends of junior (left) and senior (right) year.
But what about those who are just now getting into their final year or years of school? Well, us seniors have some words of wisdom for you.
#1: Always be yourself. I know it sounds incredibly cliche, but I promise you that the best thing you can do for yourself is to be authentically you. Personally, I struggled a lot with identity in middle school, but when I got to Riley, I started trying to be myself more. So especially if the people around you now call you “weird” or something like it, be weird. You might even find a weird friend or two along the way.
Pictured: Willim Larock goofing around after taking the PSAT junior year; Some of the senior boys enjoying themselves before going on the Graduation Walks.
#2: Everything is a popularity contest. During my conversation with Juhan, that was a point he stressed. Everything, from class officer elections to kings queens and courts of homecoming and prom, is a popularity contest. You may wonder what the point of trying is then, but luckily I have an answer. As Juhan (who actually won Prom King) put it, “You'll be surprised by who wins certain things and who does certain stuff.” You never know what might happen, so if you want to try out for a court or run for class office, go for it! You may be surprised by the results.
#3: Get involved. One of the biggest things you can do to enjoy high school is get involved. Take it from Juhan, who took part in more than 5 different clubs. “It doesn't necessarily have to be a sport,” he explained. “...Theater, class cabinet, student council, there's plenty of clubs here.” Even if you don’t have much time for a club or sport, you can participate in Spirit Week, and go to events, like Trunk or Treat. You can also support the student section at football games, and show your school spirit.
Pictured: Myself, dressed as Violet from The Incredibles for Character Day during COVID; Angel Carbajal Diaz and Nico Daeger posing with one of the decorations on the 70s themed floor during their junior year; Juhan Taylor, Mila Kaser, Celeste Hollis, Ariah Davis, and myself is our Decades Day outfits during our senior year.
#4: Work hard (enough). As someone who has gone from serial procrastinator to straight A student, I live by this advice. As Juhan explained, “Procrastinate even just a slight [bit] less than you usually do… Most of the teachers here are pretty understanding… and of course you're going to run into those teachers that don't, but… if you just procrastinate just slightly less, you won't do that bad.” I can confirm this. While being the valedictorian is an amazing accomplishment, it’s also a lot of stress, and that’s not for everyone. Taking lower level or easier level classes as opposed to AP or honors might be the best decision for you (and I have an article about that here). But regardless of your course decisions, it’s more important to make sure you’re doing the minimum than the most.
High school is crazy. It’s been a wild ride, but now as it’s coming to a close and I’m looking back on the past four years, it’s amazing to see how much has changed. I’ve grown more mature and have started making more informed and wise decisions. I’ve seen my friends grow as well and watched as they stop being kids and start being adults. We’ve all grown and changed in a million different ways, but the biggest thing in common is that we did it all here at Riley. Nico had an accurate way of explaining his feelings on high school ending: “It feels like a season finale where all of the big things have been happening, all seem to be just getting tied up nicely.” I completely agree.
As a final statement, I’d like to quote myself, from 4 years ago. This is an excerpt from a speech I gave during our 8th-grade recognition ceremony at Jackson in 2019. It reads, “This year has been great. I’ve both built and burned bridges. Even though 8th grade is notoriously hard, we got through. Some with flying colors, others barely scraping by. Regardless, we made it. This year has still been hard on all of us. Whether it was depression, grades, family problems, personal problems, or a mix of all of it, 8th graders struggle to find a necessary balance, the balance between living life, and doing your work. It’s very hard to find that balance. To find that balance, you have to find people who are trying to find it too…But I made it through. So did all of you… be proud. You did it.”
I’d like to carry the same sentiments to my fellow graduating seniors. You’ve battled countless problems, personal and academic. We survived an entire pandemic. You’ve tried to find that essential balance, and many of you have succeeded. If you still haven’t found it, I hope you do. And if you have, I hope you maintain it through whatever you do next. And as Juhan concluded, “I’ll see y’all at graduation!”
