To say that my life changed a lot this year would be an understatement. I never thought I would be here, but here I am, nearing the end of my high school career. I am rapidly approaching the time when I must go out into the world on my own. My future is undecided and completely up to me, and that is terrifying. While that is the future, there is value in reflecting on the past and present.
I took on a heavy workload of 3.5 AP classes: AP Lang, AP USH, AP Chem, and the first semester of AP Psych. I enjoyed being challenged and learning so much in these classes, but all at the same time was a lot, to say the least. There were numerous times I would have a breakdown due to my workload. Unless you are a special type of masochist, I would not recommend it. Take AP Lang and AP USH for sure if you plan on going to college, I learned so much more than I would have in the regular classes and the teachers are truly special. Take AP classes that you are interested in. Taking classes for the sake of it is no fun – I learned that this year. For my senior year, I am only taking one AP class, AP Biology, because I am fascinated by Biology (although I must mention I am taking Pre-Calculus which may as well be an AP class). Hopefully, I have a better experience with advanced classes this coming year.
This year, I figured out what I wanted to do after high school. I want to go into the medical field and hopefully become a doctor. I came to this conclusion while taking Anatomy & Physiology and absolutely loved it. Everything about the subject fascinates me and I would be happy learning about it for the rest of my life. I also want to help people and make a difference in this world, as well as having the mindset to take really hard classes and do well in them (while neglecting my mental health), so being a doctor sounds like the ideal career path for me. While I figured myself out during my junior year of high school, that isn’t common for everyone, and that is okay. You don’t need to know what you want to do even during your senior year but try to have at least an idea. I suggest taking a variety of electives in subjects you are interested in throughout high school to find what interests you. It’s also an option to take a gap year and start working or to enter community college undeclared if you want more time to decide.
The thing I am looking forward to the most senior year is being your Editor-in-Chief of The Advocate. Writing for this paper freshman year, I never thought this would happen, but here I am. The fate of this newspaper has been entrusted to me, and I hope to do you well. I would like to thank Ms. Nelson for opening me up to new experiences; for teaching me new things about writing and myself, and for granting me this opportunity of course. I would also like to thank the amazing students in my Journalism class. Rachel, Editor-in-Chief of 2023-2024, has been a great mentor in preparing me for this task and supporting me. Ava has been my chatting buddy since day 1 and was one of my writers last year. She was promoted to editor this year and grew into the position beautifully – I am so proud of her and looking forward to working together again next school year. Kaeden has also been with me since the very beginning, and while they don’t always turn in their articles on time, they are such a talented writer and I am always invested in their stories. Juliet is a lover of elephants and sophisticated language and writes gorgeous stories; I apologize for nagging her all semester. I haven’t had Molly and Mitchell in my writing group for very long, but they write standout articles that are a joy to read. While I don’t know some of the Journalism students personally, I am grateful for their enthusiasm. My junior year of high school involved a lot of twists and turns, but I enjoyed it overall and learned a lot. Here is hoping for an equally as amazing (but less stressful) senior year!
