Navigating High School: As the seniors at SM East near graduation, underclassmen should use the time to hear their advice

As I walk through the main office into school every day to see the senior countdown on the TV ticking lower and lower, I’ve started to regret one thing my four years at SM East: I’ve been so concentrated on my own life, I haven’t given the time to help underclassmen with their high school experiences.

Sure, I answer texts from incoming and current freshmen asking for class recommendations, and I’ve always given the sophomores and juniors ACT tips when they asked. Still, there’s so much information that can’t be taught in a course planning guide or a rushed enrollment powerpoint freshmen need to know.

Admittedly, when I was a freshman I was too scared to ask any of the questions that I actually wanted to know. 

There is a treasure trove of information about East outside of just academics. It’s also a community with nooks, crannies and rooms that may never be found if you don’t know how to find them.

My biggest piece of advice to any incoming or current freshmen is to just ask upperclassmen about anything.

Had I not stepped into the library one day during lunch my sophomore year, I would’ve never found the sunrooms that are perfect for grinding out forgotten chemistry assignments from the night before — I’d just assumed the library was only meant for books.

Had I not sat next to a new group of girls at a football game to go out of my comfort zone, I would’ve never found my best friends. 

Had I not followed a friend into the journalism room last year as she crammed a story, I would’ve never known there was a whole community within that mish-mashed, messy space — and I would’ve never thought of joining the Harbinger.

I never had an older sibling to teach me the ropes of East; I had to figure them out myself and happened to get lucky.

I wish I’d asked seniors the questions I once thought were stupid, and now I hope to be the senior underclassmen come to for advice.

Questions from “What’s the best bathroom?” to “What do I do if I want to get close to new people?” are completely valid to ask.

Last summer, my family friend’s incoming freshman son asked me this question: “So you’re going to be a senior next year; what should I do during high school to make the most of it?”

I was immediately caught off guard because I realized I’d never been asked this before. Everyone asks upperclassmen about the teachers to avoid or the difference between AP and IB classes, but it’s not those things that make East so special. It’s the intangible places and moments that make high school more memorable — the random parts of this old brick building that you make your own. 

What’s so great about East is that you can find some moment that feels like it’s been waiting for you — whether it’s setting up the lights for a Frequent Friday in the Little Theatre or blasting country music as you PR in the bench press. But if freshmen stay in their comfort zones, and if seniors don’t show younger students these places, they may never find a place that makes school more than just a diploma.

So, while the seniors are still here taking up the coveted parking spots and towering over growth-stunted freshmen, they should make use of their knowledge. It’s not like we’re going to be telling our college friends about the proper zipper methods of the East senior lot — it’s best to pass down this valuable information before graduating.

Even if incoming freshmen don’t know any seniors — because I didn’t either — I promise they won’t mind answering some questions about their short time at East. Challenge yourself and talk to the seniors in your art class because they’ll be gone before you know it, and they’d be happy to talk to you instead of working on an assignment so close to graduation.

Just make sure to make East your own, because people are right when they say high school only happens once. You might as well make the experience worth it.