As the weather gets warmer and the days toward graduation draw near, students begin to notice a change in the atmosphere. That’s right; it’s the seniors (rather the lack thereof). The parking lot gets emptier, the hallways become clearer and students are feeling all kinds of ways about it.
High school graduation is a bittersweet time for all students. For the seniors who left, it’s the end of one incredible chapter in their lives, and the beginning of another. But what about the people they leave behind? Now that the school is 500 people smaller, things feel different, and some of the students do too.
Although graduation and the departure of the senior class is something the sophomores and juniors have already experienced, the emptiness of the missing class has an ambivalent effect on the remaining students. “I didn’t really know any of the seniors that well, but the school feels so spacious without them. No shade to any seniors, but it’s kind of nice having them gone. Although, I can sense a kind of sadness without them here, like something is missing. It’s weird,” freshman Karen Miao said.
For students who had siblings who graduated, no longer going to school with their older brother or sister comes with pros and cons. “My brother Garret just graduated and it’s weird that he doesn’t go to school with me anymore, because we hang out with a lot of the same people. At the same time though, it’s kind of good that he’s graduating because I can be independent and not known as ‘Garrets’ little brother’,” sophomore Connor Koch said.
As much as students will miss those seniors leaving us, they can’t help but relish in the perks of their absence. The newly available parking spots are a special bonus for the juniors, who take the seniors’ old spots. “It’s cool getting to park closer to school instead of Rockshire,” junior Elena Colliver said.
Additionally, with a whole grade of people gone, someone has to take their place. The juniors who are soon-to-be seniors are already assuming their roles as the “top dogs” of the school, and are excited for their senior year. On May 30 the juniors wore senior shirts. This is a day a lot of students look forward to for taking fun and cute pictures. “A bunch of my friends came over the other day and we tie-dyed our shirts. I can’t believe we’re going to be seniors, but since they’re gone it feels really real,” junior Julia Bogart said.
