End of Senior Year Thoughts
Last Saturday, I found myself scrolling through an endless barrage of videos, Snapchat memories, and pictures with a group of fellow seniors. Keeling over laughing, I suddenly realized that though there was documentation of some seriously strange shit, it was only one-billionth of what all transpired through our years here at Springs (this piece, by the way, is completely scientifically correct). I can't count the number of times I heard someone tell another that their old pictures look absolutely nothing like the way they look now.
“We crawled uncomfortably in our 14-year-old skin, serving only as mere ideas of who or what we were to become.”
Of course, we’ll all look back at our high school graduation pictures and think the same thing, but, for me at least, it felt as if my past and present were not really that different - like two separate timelines coalescing into some sort of fever-dream-crossover-episode.
Despite this relative clarity, I know that many of the undocumented memories will ultimately fade and the circumstances surrounding the pictures will become harder to recall. On a greater scale, however, that’s irrelevant. These experiences, for better or worse, are now forever ingrained in our DNA. Through our time here, it seems as if we were not only a part of Springs, but Springs slowly became a part of us.
So, as a senior who has been tasked with writing a “sentimental” piece for the Woodward Post, I figured I might relay a few of the many things I’ve learned here:
Put down your phone. I know that sending memes to one another is now an essential part of a friendship, but I guarantee you that learning how to talk to people offline is valuable (and this is coming from an introvert). As great as videos and pictures are, it’s the feeling of being there that will stick with you the longest.
Tardiness matters. I’ve done the research, and even when you get 40 tardies, you still don’t get a record. My chronically-tardy friends and I concluded that if you show up to class on time, your teachers will like you infinitely more (ask Mr. Woodruff). Those extra five minutes in bed are sweet, but a good college recommendation letter from a teacher who isn’t fed up with you is so much better.
Use your resources. Guys -- we have a whole lake, a full blown recording studio, an expansive art facility, and enough trails to get lost in on just one side of the campus. Don’t be afraid to collaborate and express yourself through as many mediums as available to you. If you have an idea, pursue it. As Thelonious Monk put it, “there are no wrong notes.”
Be kind. If there’s one thing I regret, it’s that I spent most of my 10th-grade year brooding by myself, thinking that I would somehow attract friends by appearing as detached as possible. I don’t know how I got this idea into my head, but it didn’t work. At all. Needless to say, smiling and acknowledging the presence of others really goes a long way.
Oh, and one last thing: don’t be so hard on yourself. You will fail a test you studied all night for, you will have an embarrassing voice crack during a contemp show, and you will definitely be forced to relive the many times you said stupid things in front of people, but you’re going to be fine. Trust me.