Seniors | Plaid Line + PRIZM + Scottie News

By: Treshawn Ross

As we are starting this new year at Highland, there are many different thoughts and feelings involved. I have asked a few people how they were feeling going into this school year and these are the responses.

9th grade-

Most 9th graders started off this year very nervous and excited. This nervousness is usually caused by not being familiar with the new environment and simply being around new people.

“I’m still having trouble finding my classes,” Camila told me. This is another common problem that the Freshmen are having to tackle. They are making the best of their opportunities though, many are getting involved in extracurricular activities.

10th grade-

The Sophomores are generally more experienced going into this year, which makes them seem more relaxed when compared to their younger peers in 9th grade. Mr. Berndt said “There’s a bit of a learning curve with them, learning to get to class on time. But over the weeks that has slowly trailed off.” Hopefully this experience will inspire their fellow underclassmen to adjust faster.

11th grade-

Many Juniors are feeling a bit apprehensive about this school year. 11th grade has a reputation for being difficult. Abril said “I’m mostly worried about improving my GPA now, it can definitely be important in the future.” The ACT will also weigh heavily on the minds of Juniors towards the end of the school year. Junior year is very stressful but I believe the Juniors can succeed.

12th grade-

Seniors are mostly cruising into this school year; many of them are already beginning to mentor younger students. The curriculum is still rigorous for some students though, Ivy says that she is spending more time studying for math than she used to. This year most Seniors have to focus on not having a “Senior slump”, so they can shift more easily into leadership roles in the school and elsewhere.

Hey seniors, remember the last time you guys went on that senior trip to Zero Gravity? Some of us paid up $15 to attend the trip in hopes of skipping class for the day. But did any of us realize that it was $15 just to spend only 2 hours jumping around on trampolines? Some went because they actually wanted to, while others pulled off the price just because they wanted to miss class or because all of their friends were going. Not to be dramatic or anything, but the trip should have been extended for at least another hour in order for the trip to be worth the price. With $15, a student can pay for approximately 6 days of school lunch.

Those who did not attend the trip admitted that they were not willing, nor able, to sacrifice that amount of money to join the rest of the seniors on the trip. Some of us were left behind at school, and unfortunately, still had to attend our usual classes. It honestly feels unfair that money has to be involved in order for students to be able to participate in fun senior activities. Shouldn’t senior activities be for the benefit of everyone? It is understood that students had voted for this trip, but not all students were aware of the fact that it only allowed them to miss the last two periods of school. Plus, they were still responsible for work they missed while class was in session.

You shouldn’t have to put a price on the happiness of students. Even though a survey was created to determine the senior field trip, not all student took it, therefore only those who took the initiative to vote on social media were able to have their say on the options.

An alternative should have been given to seniors who were not able to attend the field trip. For example, different activities could have been supervised by different teachers between those times, such as sports activities in the gym, a movie in the auditorium, or other things that students would rather do besides sitting in class.

Snow tubing will be the next opportunity for seniors to participate on a senior field trip. Based on the opinions of previous seniors, it will actually be a fun and exciting activity for us to experience, but let’s just hope that it will be reasonably priced to fit the financial needs of all students who want to go.