A Message from a Senior

The four years that compose high school are periods of intense growth. This growth is so rapid and overwhelming for individuals in the midst of it. As someone who has had a unique high school experience, with Covid taken into consideration, I find that I have a tried and true set of skills. They have allowed me to grow and gain confidence through my highschool years. 

The first of these skills is the ability to balance your course load. This seems obvious but I think it is particularly notable to take into consideration the emotional energy you have alongside your academic abilities. As students we are asked to push ourselves and strive to grow at an exponential rate in our education. This is not an inherently bad sentiment, but it is a particular challenge when we are expected to grow at an unreasonable rate and it seems as though anything other than that is not enough. It should also be noted that school curriculums have expanded the subject matter and levels of work expected from students over the years. Objectively school has gotten harder than it was during our parents days. Be patient and honest with yourself about what is and is not doable, that requires each of us to recognize all that we are doing and ask ourselves what we want and reconcile the two.

The next is to take this period of growth into your own hands and learn about yourself and who you want to be. We are growing as people with increased responsibility to manage, as we navigate how we want to handle responsibility I ask you to be conscious of how your intuition informs your actions. When we are conscious of how we are navigating life we can be more decisive in our choices and learn how to be confident in the principles and gut feelings that guide our choices.

Communicating with teachers and administrators is crucial to learning how to manage relationships with people and our future professional peers. When we are struggling to make a deadline, teachers are more able to and more inclined to offer accommodations if they are informed as to the circumstances. In life when we have a relationship with someone who is dealing with external challenges, we want them to tell us what is wrong. We are then able to be aware of potential or present challenges and can help them far more than if we are just speculating as to what is wrong. When we are clear with the people around us about what challenges we face they are able to extend the help we need. Particularly with teachers, they are managing so many students that they likely will not know unless you tell them directly. 

The last is very straightforward. Be kind to people. Be gentle and create safe spaces for your peers. Highschool will always have insecurity and sadness in it, because highschool and adolescence are inherently hard. When we extend kindness we can take joy in the fact that we made things a little easier for someone and we are more likely to experience kindness from others. Nobody is entitled to your kindness but giving love freely brings a great deal of confidence to the giver and likely the receiver of such. 

In your endeavors to survive high school be proud of your accomplishments and grant yourself patience in your growth. As I have learned to do these things in high school I have not always succeeded but I have found stability in my successes.