Upon entering the front doors on my last first day of school at Williamsville East, I was immediately struck by one observation: the influx of new freshman has had little effect on East’s height distribution, and I was still shorter than most of the student population. Later on, I realized I still get lost looking for certain classrooms, am slightly terrible at meeting new people, and, even after 8 AP classes, haven’t gotten much better at time management.
Not your typical senior perspective, but the senior experience may not be as idyllic as it’s made out to be. Likewise, freshman year isn’t a total quagmire of navigating awkward high school situations and being mercilessly hazed, or whatever the rumors are. Don’t put too much stock in stereotypes, because then the stories become larger than reality. And that’s when stories are most dangerous.
How much of our perspective is skewed after hearing that new students are pelted with carrots in the Commons, junior year is an adequate substitute for torture, and senioritis is a real and incurable affliction? Stories are what keep our heads down as freshmen, afraid to step out of line. They’re why we sneer at sophomores (arrogant simply because they’re not freshmen anymore), take millions of AP classes junior year (everyone else does), and wait with sick anticipation for class rank to finally come out (there are always tears).
But none of those tears, standardized testing-induced nervous breakdowns, or wasted carrots are necessary. High school is fraught with expectation, and it’s only when I’m nearing the end of these four years that I realize expectation means nothing. There is no great deity of secondary schooling in charge of dictating what we can or cannot do during our time here, who we will or will not become.
You can come into East not knowing a checkbook from a stack of Post-It notes and still join FBLA, go on to win national competitions, and find a new (possibly profitable) interest along the way. You can be a jock and a band geek and a secret poet all at the same time, and no one will think any less of you. You can read science textbooks by day, philosophy literature at night, and write melodramatic editorials for the school newspaper whenever you want. (In fact, you are encouraged to. Please join the newspaper staff.)
Underclassmen, throw any meticulous plans for your high school career out now because I guarantee these years will never play out exactly as you think. It’s no fun sticking to the black and white, and you’ll truly find yourself in between the lines- in accidental encounters and first meetings and things you tried out just for the heck of it but all of a sudden can’t imagine living without. And then you’ll find yourself a better person in the end.
Juniors, there is no magic formula for getting into the college of your choice, just as there isn’t a secret strategy to get a perfect SAT score or get elected student council president or get involved in the “right” extracurriculars. Pursue what’s important to you. Pursue the things that you won’t mind working hard at, because at least then the all-nighters won’t be meaningless.
And for the seniors, we only have 9 months left! Might as well make them count. Personally, the urge to stay cooped up at home completing college apps is strong, but so is the constant nostalgia and irrational optimism. Freshman year feels like yesterday; the only difference is that I’m now positive tomorrow can be anything at all.
Let’s have an unforgettable year, Williamsville East, and I wish you all luck.
By Melissa Li
