When we look back on our life journey, many memories make up who we are today.
So many friends, clubs, activities, and sports that captivate the very person we have transformed into.
For many seniors entering their final year of adolescence and the first stages of adulthood, it’s hard to believe that time has truly escaped us and a new beginning has arrived.
Our time is up, and we have grown out of our old selves and into new adults.
Have we been prepared throughout our four years of high school that led up to where we are today? Or are we emotionally unprepared and closed off to the idea because we simply are scared and not ready for that unknown aspect of life yet to come?
“It’s nerve-racking,” said senior Asa Dowling. “You’re about to be on your own and step into a world where all the responsibilities are about to be on you. And, emotionally, school doesn’t prepare you for it.”
A freshman entering high school is vastly different than the same person leaving it. As students age and mature from one grade to the next, the character development a student undergoes is vast, sometimes like night and day.
“Obviously, I’ve changed,” said senior Toni Canada. “It’s been four years.”
As Canada has evolved throughout her high school years, she has learned to take certain relationships more seriously, realized what needs to be meaningful and valued, and changed her priorities in doing so.
Yet, as seniors begin their final year, many underclassmen are starting their first.
Walking into the high school campus, freshman Sarah Felty felt like she was the only one who didn’t know what she was doing. Everyone looked more mature, more academically ready, more “together.”
“ I looked at all the high schoolers, and they looked like they had it together,” Felty said. “ I was worried that I wouldn’t have everything together and be successful.”
As freshmen begin their high school careers, it can seem scary, like an unknown feeling of uncertainty.
Felty, of course, isn’t the only underclassman who resonates with this similar feeling.
The anxiety experienced by a freshman can be entirely different from the stress that a senior in high school experiences. Stress can derive from various forms of anxiety: social, emotional, and academic.
“Sometimes just the amount of school work I have is pretty overwhelming,” said junior Noelle Jones. “Sometimes I have like eight pieces of homework per week, and when I have assignment after assignment, it can feel like it’s never ending. But, I really try my best to keep a pretty strict sleep schedule because that is the most helpful thing I can do for myself.”
The academic rigor students go through can be a very demanding period of persistent dedication, often coming with the sacrifices of what you want to do for the overall success of your future.
“Trying to keep up with work has been kind of difficult,” expressed sophomore Allison Ortega, “There’s a lot of classes and a lot of work, but I’m trying to prepare myself to manage my time and my work. It can be really stressful because you have deadlines to meet, but it’s rewarding at the end.”
Being able to manage assignments and reduce stress is not the only obstacle these high schoolers face; they also need to assess whether they are emotionally prepared for the next step, the next transition into their future.
“Sometimes I do feel like I’m still a freshman, and it doesn’t click for me that I’m a junior now, so it’s just been kind of a weird transition for my mindset,” explained Jones.
Just because we physically evolve and become older doesn’t always mean we feel that way emotionally.
Our physical appearance doesn’t always portray how ready we may feel about transitioning into adulthood or entering into the real world. Although junior James Kuettel is still trying to figure out his path in life, he has been adequately prepared to face the challenges life may throw at him.
“I mean, I’m still kind of trying to figure out what I want to do, where I want to go, but I feel like, in a way, I am ready,” Kuettle said. “I think that definitely my AP class and dual credit classes have prepared me for going into college.”
No matter how old we become, we still try to figure out life one step at a time -even in college.
“I would say for most people, it would be more difficult to transition,” said Enoch Griffth, a 2024 WHS graduate who now attends the University of Notre Dame.
“A lot of people do have a constant parental influence, whether it be bad or good, and if you’re used to having your parents hold your hand, it’s definitely a shock.”
Griffith felt ready to embrace his independence and felt as though he could survive on his own, but not having his parents close was a hard aspect of growing into adulthood to accept.
“I felt fine because I’m pretty attached to my parents and feel like I could survive on my own without them, but in a certain aspect, it’s a little hard not seeing them all the time,” Griffith said. “In my case, the emotional burden is more on the side of not having someone to go talk to when I need to because that was something my mom always did.”
It’s our parents’ job to teach us how to become independent adults, and it’s our job to adhere to their guidance and advice. Just as we learn from our parents and grow up to become our person, we must also learn how to function academically through education.
“Weatherford itself didn’t really emotionally prepare me for college,” Griffith added. “I had to kind of get into the idea of how social life would work in college on my own. But- academically, Weatherford definitely prepared me for Notre Dame.”
Although it’s crucial to prepare for adulthood through academics, it’s just as important to prepare emotionally and find supportive people around you.
Sophomore Finn Gardiner has altered his mindset and realized that having a social life is just as important as maintaining an academic one.
“I already work really hard on my grades,” said Gardiner. “I’m very dedicated to them, but now I’m trying to experience high school a little more as a person rather than a student. I’ve been hanging out and going to way more stuff with my friends now compared to before when I did absolutely nothing outside of school. It’s just helped with managing my personal life as well as my school life, but not dedicating myself to either one directly.”
In high school, students are integrated with older and younger students. Older classmen take on the leadership role of mentoring younger students, and younger students teach older students by learning from the new ideas they present.
“I think I like being up here more,” said Gardiner, “I know a lot of upperclassmen, but it helps because it exposes you to what it’s gonna be like in the real world.”
The transition from high school relationships to relationships within the early years of adulthood is drastically different.
“The people that you meet in college, even if it’s just someone who’s in your dorm, that’s a lifelong relationship that can go far beyond college,” said Griffith, “and I think that’s definitely a big difference between college and high school.”
Whether you’re entering the early stages of adulthood as a senior or entering the first year of your high school career as a freshman, we’re all experiencing these changes together in different aspects of our lives.
“In some ways, it’s kind of scary knowing that I’m not going to have the same things I’ve had my whole life,” said Kuettel. “But also, it’s exciting knowing I’m going into a whole new chapter of my life.”