Senior retrospective: Students look back — and forward
By Hugo M.
As the years and months fly by, seniors are getting prepared to move on to a new chapter in their lives.
These past 4 years have been full of twists and turns, happy memories, and more, and seniors have changed significantly.
Before they leave, some of seniors have shared a reflection of everything that has happened in their high school lives and what’s next for them in their future.
For instance, Samantha B., shared how she has grown as both a student and a person.
“I think as a freshman I was held down by fear of how people were going to perceive me but as I went up in grade levels I felt like I was able to be more myself,” she said.
Samantha additionally said how now that she is a senior, since she is leaving soon, she isn’t bothered by how people see her compared to when she was a freshman.
Samantha further said how despite the challenges she faced in her previous years, she still enjoyed her high school years. She shared how her favorite year was junior year and going to homecoming with her friends and having fun.
In the future, she shared how she aspires to be an English teacher, but she knows how that will come with its own challenges.
“The biggest challenge that I’ll face is the starting wages for teachers,” she said. “The fact that [they] aren’t given a lot of opportunities or benefits for the amount of work they have to tackle.”
Because she comes from a low-income family, she said she might face financial issues at first such as earning a low starting wage.
Despite these challenges, Samantha shared how she is determined to achieve her dream and that she hopes other students will do the same.
Her advice to all the students here at CATS is “[to] think about every year as another stepping stone to getting the life that you want, although every single day may seem difficult and most likely are they won’t continue to be that way as you continue to advance your learning and your awareness and scope on the world.”
Additionally, Justin C., shared his experiences and thoughts on these previous years.
He shares how one of his favorite memories is “of APUSH with how we did all these parties and everything, they’re really fun and I really like how I was able to learn a lot of things out of it while still having a great time.”
He recalled how he has grown in the way that he has become more social than he was before.
“I was a little bit more isolated to myself and I’m just glad I’m reaching out a lot more since it’s [a] big change compared to last year[s].”
As of now, he shares how his plans for the future are to attend a private university to study animation, despite the financial challenges that he might face due to the financial costs of it.
However, like Samantha, he is determined to achieve what he wants and shares to other students “[to] be consistent, try to do your work on time, and don’t let all the problems get to your head, and try your best.”
Although these 4 years have been a rollercoaster of emotions for our seniors, they are determined to achieve their goals and to try new things
“I feel excited to get out of this school,” Jesse M. shared. “I’m excited to adventure out and try new things.”
Even if it might be tough, their resilience and determination are an inspiration to other students to never give up and to look back and reflect on the good and bad moments of high school.
