Back to School

 Anica Graney

     Welcome back to school, everyone! The next nine months will no doubt be filled with amazing memories, stressless days, and restful nights… or not. I know school isn’t something that most students look forward to, but it is required by law so nobody has a choice. I really want to avoid all of the clichés that the back to school article no doubt demands, but it is a tradition that I give my advice to all of the classes in high school. Freshmen: The upperclassmen don’t actually hate you. It’s just something that we do to tease all of you and make you feel more included as a part of the school. That being said, please stay to the right side of the hallway, don’t walk in large groups, and above all else, don’t walk slow, otherwise I will take back the first sentence. My other piece of advice to you is to try everything. Go out for any club, sport, activity, or class that even slightly interests you. If you love it, great! You get to do it all four years! If you don’t then you don’t have to do it again next year. At least now you know and can say you tried it, right? Sophomores: Yeah, you’ve got one year under your belt, but don’t think I still don’t consider you freshmen. This year is just freshman year part II, and like The Godfather II, the sequel is better than the original. You get a sliver of upperclassmen privilege, know your way around the building, and get equally ticked off when freshmen slowly walk on the left side of the hallway in a large group. The classes are going to get a bit harder, so definitely learn some good study skills, or go the way I did and completely wing everything and hope that it all works out okay. A bit more of a stressful approach, but still effective contrary to what your teachers might lead you to believe. Juniors: Good luck. I’m trying not to over exaggerate, but this year can be pretty nasty. Just try your best and whatever your best is will have to do. Focus on the little joys in life, like the amount of homework you will receive everyday, or the countdown to when you are state mandated to take the ACT and the work keys, or the coffee addiction you will no doubt acquire. If none of these things sound that appealing, you’ll at least have prom to look forward to! Seniors: As much as I enjoyed growing up with all of you, I think it is safe to say that most of us are going to be glad to finally get out of this place. I know four years seems a bit much, but in the grand scheme of things, it’s really only the same length of time as a marathon of all of The Godfather movies. In all seriousness, though, we kind of have to admit that the last four years have had some benefit to us. All I ask is for in the future, when we all discover the joys of aging, taxes, and slow metabolisms, that we can look back on these years and at least think, “Never again.”

P.S. I’m not apologizing for all of The Godfather references. You made the choice to read this article and I made the choice to include The Godfather. I hope neither of us are sorry.