As juniors mature to seniors and graduation becomes more of a reality, the amount of time students have to accomplish their high school goals starts to dwindle.
For junior Tayven Glasgow who plays on the Varsity basketball team, he said that his mindset going into Senior year will revolve around simply grinding.
“I got a whole lot to do and not a lot of time to do it,” Glasgow said.
When dealing with stress, Glasgow said that pressure is a choice and he does not intend on spending his last year of high school worrying about homework.
“Pressure is a mindset, so if you don’t feel pressured then you don’t really have nothing to worry about. I don’t really feel a lot of pressure, cause I just know that I’m going to be alright,” Glasgow said.
Similarly, Junior Gracie Heath, President of West Side Stage, also said that she hopes for a more chill senior year. She said she wants to tone down her workload and enjoy high school.
“It’s my senior year I kind of want to take it easy. I feel like I’ve made myself and kind of established my name and whatever, so I don’t have to try giving everything. I can just do a show and be like yeah I’m still you know in theatre, I don’t have to do everything,” Heath said.
Contrary to this more laid back mindset, junior Samara Estep, who is an IB Diploma candidate, said that she plans to push through the stress of IB and maintain a mindset of hard work.
“It’s gonna work out, but you have to put in the work,” she said.
Junior Danny Gage, who is involved in musical theater, said he plans to be more of a free spirit and to not take people’s opinions to heart.
Specifically, he advised underclassmen that “people suck and they’re always gonna suck. They’re gonna be mean but sometimes you just have to grow up and get past it.”
On the flip side, Heath said that some benefits that come with being a senior, includes taking classes that one wants to take instead of taking classes that are necessary to graduate
Likewise, Gage said, “I am looking forward to having more freedom, kind of just being able to chill because most of my classes will be electives, and just having that sense of ownership over the school.”
In focusing on the other aspect of seniority, Estep said that with these benefits comes the responsibility to be a leader over the underclassmen.
“Just do your best and show respect to underclassmen even though obviously they’re underclassmen and you might not always want to. But if you just treat everyone with respect then it will just kind of cultivate respect,” Estep said.
For Glasgow, this show of respect means putting yourself out there, as he said that it is essential that you open up to them.
“You just got to be a positive influence and make sure that they have what they need to move forward because I feel like if you’re nice to them then they’ll be a lot prouder than if you shy away from them or try not to be a leader,” Glasgow said.
As juniors become seniors, and take one step closer to adulthood, they are faced with many choices that could possibly change the course of their lives.
