I’ve been asked to write a senior article. I’m not about to sugarcoat my experience in high school by saying that it was the best four years of my life, because it simply wasn’t. However, there are a lot of things about Nashoba that I actually enjoyed. I’m not just a cynic. By far, senior year was the best year. At this time you know who is your friend and who isn’t. Also, you get to take the classes you actually care about. Personally, I am not a science person and taking Spanish was ROUGH to say the least. So this year, I got to drop the classes that I didn’t enjoy and took more Social Studies courses, something that I am actually interested in. From my experience, unless you know that a college you are applying to requires that you take a course you dislike, don’t take it. I almost got suckered into taking physics, and I would have had a lot of trouble in the class and not been able to focus on classes that were more important to me. Also, this year I took my first CP class, Pre-Calc. Anyone who knows me can attest to my lack of mathematical skills. I’m going to be a journalist, not an accountant. UMass Amherst required that I take the course, and I now hold an A+ in the class. It did not affect my GPA at all and I did not have to kill myself studying, and could spend more time editing my analytical papers in AP English. Personally some people were a little surprised that I was taking a CP course, but it ended up being a really great decision. Plus I got Mr. Nickerson, who is a pretty great teacher.

I’ve learned a lot of things from high school besides just the mundane stuff you learn in your classes. When I first got to high school I felt pretty alone. I hadn’t found my “niche” yet and lost some of my old friends from middle school. When I first joined Nashoba Drama I didn’t know anyone, and was really nervous because I lost the comfort of having my old friends everywhere I went. But that’s how I found new friends, by joining these clubs and trying things out on my own. If I had already found all my friends I wouldn’t have had to step out of my comfort zone. I’m gunna have to do that in college anyways, so it helped me get ready for my future endeavours. I know that I ended up finding people from choir and drama that really made me feel welcome when I was lost. I can’t say I’m really a “sporty” person. If I’m going to be honest I’ve never been great at the whole moving thing, but I know a lot of my friends have made really good friendships from activities like track. Even if doing a club like Strings or PAC is your thing, joining events and clubs within the school is a great way to make friends and have new experiences.

Actual school stuff is important too, shockingly. Yeah, some of the classes you take will just be for college credit. I don’t see that as a bad thing. There are a lot of things that happen when you are “stuck” learning something you don’t care about. Like for me, chemistry was the absolute worst. However, my work ethic dramatically improved because I had to work much harder to earn a decent grade. I’m not saying I enjoyed that class, but I did get something out of it. Additionally, Dr. Cressman is a really understanding teacher; she put up with my nonsense and stupid questions. On the subject of teachers, some of the teachers here are just great. Everyone has their opinions, but if you don’t like Griff what are you actually doing with yourself. Like actually. And Mr. Castner? Possibly one of the most knowledgeable people I have ever met.  And Mrs. Carter (the technology and journalism teacher for the uninformed) is amazing, and her class helped me to decide what I am majoring in. Some of my best memories are in those technology courses like video production and journalism. Electives are important, and if it were up to me, there would be a block specifically made into everyone’s schedules to take an elective. I know that’s basically impossible, but what can I say? I’m a dreamer.

In high school, everyone is tired, and hungry, and sometimes upset. Everyone hates some things about high school, a.k.a the fact that I have to be a functional human being at 7:40 in the morning, and love other things, like clubs and sports. My advice, enjoy it for what it is. It’s just high school, no need to get overly melodramatic about gossip that nobody cares about next week. Not to say I’ve never done that, it’s easy to get wrapped up in that stuff, but it’s not worth it. At this point in my senior year, it’s all about letting go of those past grudges or gossip or whatever. People do a lot of growing up in high school, including myself. Senior year is kind of this weird in between stage of life. Everyone is looking forward to the future but in actuality are stuck in the past. For the last 2 years of my life it has been all college all the time, and now I can finally relax and just look forward to new experiences. Really, it’s about finding a balance between thinking about the future and enjoying the time at present.