High school: beginnings and ends
By Dominic Leading Fox
“It’s kinda whatever.”
High schoolers are known for their profound and intricate expressions of the things they love and hate. The nonchalant manner in which Princeton Xiong, the freshman to whom the quote belongs, conveyed himself seemed to radiate a mindset that’s commonly found amongst many freshmen regarding the ups and downs of high school. High school isn’t all musical numbers and romance; it’s a different experience for every student. It’s not uncommon to end up as a completely different person by senior year. So, how do seniors and freshmen see high school differently or similarly? The answer: it depends on the student.
Photo of Owasso High School’s west campus, by Dominic Leading Fox
Do people remember the expectations they had when they were going into high school? Maybe it was different than they expected, but for freshmen, Princeton Xiong and Hailey Mansart, it matched up pretty well.
The trials and tribulations haven’t seemed to bother this year’s freshman. Instead, they seem to understand the transaction of work for fun, a relatable idea for high schoolers.
“It’s been a lot? But, a lot to learn from and a lot to grow from. I think I’ve already grown from what I’ve gone through.” commented Mansart. “There’s absolutely a difference from last year. I think there’s just a faster pace, [but] I don't think the work is harder.”
As for the rest of the year, Mansart adds, “I think [freshman year] is just gonna be more growth for our whole student body… for the next few years, I expect more challenge and new people. I love meeting new people,” she said with a smile.
These students’ freshman year is well underway, and within time, they’ll be seniors. Seniors Makayla Sordo, Kendall Welborn, and Layla Slack express their thoughts and feelings about the progressing senior year, what came before it, and what comes next.
“[Senior year] is… not awesome! Well, it's not like, high school musical awesome, but it’s kinda just like every high school year, pretty mundane, but there's a few things that you can get away with easier.” Sordo said, with rather evil undertones. “I'm more cynical than the average person, so I'm sure there are some people that are having an awesome senior year, and it's a dream.”
As Sordo mentioned, others have had different experiences so far.
“[Senior year] is going good, solid 7/10,” Slack said calmly but confidently. “My favorite part is not having to be here til like, 11:45 a.m., so I can sleep in, and that’s really great.”
Can’t wait to be a senior now, huh? Well, this all comes at the end of a long and strenuous journey. These students have dedicated four years of emotion and hard work to get here. Now, these seniors get one last hurrah as they ride out their last year of high school. Some of them have been going to Owasso since pre-k, so it’s easy to tell how much this means for many of the seniors at Owasso High School.
“There’s a foreseeable end… It's bittersweet. I’m very sentimental, but I’m excited to get out of here,” Slack commented about the end of the year.
Similarly, Sordo adds, “I wanna say I’m excited… but I don’t know, obviously you’re here for like, four years and you make all your friends here, so it's like you're leaving a certain part of you behind no matter what, so that's obviously not super fun.”
Despite the uncertain future these seniors face, they are prepared for a new stage in their lives. They’ll live away from their families and might even lose touch with many of their friends. However, with admirable resolve, they see a bright future ahead,
“One of my favorite things that I’m looking forward to is being able to see in 10, 15, 20 years where all these people are and get to see all the amazing things they've accomplished, and be able to reflect on… the care that we devoted to some things that were genuinely stupid, [and] to see where they are in the future because I love all these people immaculately,” Welborn said with sincerity.
At the end of our conversations, I asked each of these seniors for any advice they could give to freshmen, whether it be this year’s or the years after.
Sordo pondered the question for a while, then came to an answer. “Drop any idea or plan you have for high school. Any preconceptions you hold about any part of high school, just completely drop it because it doesn’t matter. There’s no point in sticking to any sort of crowd…you’ll have so much fun if you just, do high school.”
“My advice for freshmen?” Slack questioned. “Truly, it’s so cheesy, but just don’t care. I spent so much time caring about what people thought of me, and truly nobody is looking at you… so yeah! Be yourself, make friends and don’t get cliquey.”
Quickly, without missing a beat, Welborn gave one last piece of advice.
“What I will have gained from the past four years is I try not to take myself too seriously, but I try to take the things that I love very seriously.”