For freshmen, high school is a scary, yet exciting beginning. Seniors have a more blasé outlook on their time here, but still hold on to the nostalgic factors high school has had to offer them.  

Freshman Alex Ramirez pictures high school as a place to start fresh. “I feel like [high school] is going to be hard for me,” Ramirez said. “You worry about college and you have to work to get a scholarship, while doing sports too.” Ramirez advises his fellow classmates to just do their work and to avoid getting distracted by drama. “Just be who you are and just enjoy high school,” Ramirez said.

Senior Justin Kim did not expect much out of high school. “I just felt like it was another four years of school,” said Kim. “I was a little nervous as to how people would see me. But I’m at the point where I’m just going to be me and not really care about other people’s opinions.”

Kim went into senior year comparing it to his junior year. “I knew it was going to be fun, it’s the last year of high school.” Kim said.  “I wanted to make it memorable so me and my friends just let go.”

Kim’s recalls his first day of senior year starting with nerves.

“But after that first week the butterflies went down, it was history from there,” Kim said. He believes that you should just be yourself.  

“Don’t try to impress others.” Kim said. “Try to be a better you.”

Freshman Lizet Diaz expected high school to be more like the movies.  “I expected it to be more dramatic, like on TV where there’s ‘Mean Girls.’” Diaz said. “But it’s not like that. Everyone’s nice to each other.”

So far, she’s been enjoying high school for what it is.

“I met a lot of new people,” said Diaz. “But it was kind of scary too, you don’t know a lot of people or anything about your classes.”

The first varsity football game was the moment that she truly felt like she was in high school. “It was just everybody being there and joining together,” Diaz said. “It was so much fun.”

Senior Sabrina Rodriguez feels that high school is only as good as you make it. She’s enjoyed her years here and explains that if you want to enjoy high school for what it is you shouldn’t focus on what others think of you.

“If you want to dance at pep rallies, then dance at pep rallies. If you want to go to senior corner, go to senior corner,” Rodriguez said. “Don’t think about what other people will say.”

However she didn’t always think high school was going to be fun. “I thought high school was going to be like stereotypical ‘Mean Girls’ type of stuff,” said Rodriguez. “But it was actually really chill.”

Rodriguez simplified her high school experiences by saying: “You make new friends, you run out of time, there’s drama. But still, I don’t want to leave.”