Back When I Was In High School…
What is one thing you’d tell your senior self?
To cherish the time spent with my classmates over the years, expand my friendship circle to be more inclusive, spend more time finding scholarships, and don't rush wanting to be an "adult".
What is your biggest regret senior year?
My biggest regret senior year is probably not playing the sports I wanted to try because I was too afraid to. I also regret not spending more time with my classmates as I was so eager to graduate and go to college. I didn't take the time to really soak in my last year before adulting because working after graduation and during college was a challenge that I'd have traded to go back to senior year.
What was your favorite part of high school?
My favorite part of high school was joining various sports, clubs, and committees (Prom, Japanese Club, Student Council, etc). I was able to do an exchange to Japan for 3 weeks before graduation and it was such a fun experience to have with my classmates and my teachers. Since we were on block schedules, I got to take some unique classes where we would play pool or shoot darts in PE class, or go tide pooling or ride a submarine for Marine Science. I went to a small private school in Hawaii, my graduating class was 112 students and most of us had been together since kindergarten so the memories we created as a class will be remembered forever.
Is there any advice you would give seniors?
Those senior events, go to them! You will never get to experience them again. Try that thing you thought about trying because you never know what you'll discover about yourself. Most importantly, do not care what others think about you because in this big game of life, you are likely to rarely see them again once you graduate and start your careers. Don't let those intrusive thoughts stifle your experiences and personal growth.
What is one thing you’d tell your senior self?
It gets better. There's more opportunities over time, so try and get as many experiences as possible. Try to connect with a wide variety of people.
What is your biggest regret senior year?
I always showed up late. I had some injuries in my sport at the time that slowed me down a bit. I wish I experienced my Senior year a bit more. My regrets come from my Junior and Sophomore years. I kind of locked myself down and didn’t connect with people as much. Senior year, common regrets that I see is people isolating themselves to one group of people. I did this too. People latching onto others, specifically their boyfriends or girlfriends. They hang out with them but no one else. You tend to miss out on connections with other people.
What was your favorite part of high school?
My favorite part was class with teachers I highly respected. Ones who led discussions and didn't run everything. The ones who allowed me to have higher level discussions with people who were interesting and different from me. That’s what got me going to class. I never skipped class, but some classes I’d be more excited for. I couldn’t do the regular repetition of read this and this. My adhd would be shot and I’d struggle to find ways to entertain myself. I also took a lot of fun classes like shop and pottery. I had a lot of credits so I just kept taking the fun classes. I helped build a canoe, that was pretty cool. I built cutting boards and sold them in farmers markets. I like building stuff, doing stuff, and talking to people. Taking those classes got me into sports med.
Is there any advice you would give seniors?
One of the hardest the hardest things for seiors lately is that when they finish their credits, they just want to be done. They wat to star t later, leave earlier. There’s no other time In your life where you’ll have a structured experience . Take the class that’s weird that you’re kind of interested in. Try something different because after this you pay for everything.
