The Next Chapter
It is almost that time of the year again, when Miramonte’s football field fills with green-and-gold graduation gowns while proud parents, many teary-eyed, watch their children make their way into the real world. After a four-year-long rollercoaster ride through the ups and downs of their memorable teenage years, it all has come to an end for the Class of
2018.
While seniors may recall their experience at Miramonte as one filled with an endless amount of social and academic pressure, it is certain that the reflective nature of the college application process has brought a form of introspective closure. “The most challenging part of the application process,” says Serena Wong, who will be attending Carnegie Mellon next year, “was being able to properly express in essays the complex emotions of both triumph and failure. I found there are many contradictory feelings that come with important events in my life and having to put those intangible, tacit emotions into words proved to be very difficult.”
Speaking of high school in general, Wong adds, “I’ve struggled a lot to be able to live the way I want. I usually stick to what is most convenient for me – avoiding fights with friends to prevent unneeded drama, taking objectively more ‘difficult’ courses to appear competitive, and forcing extracurriculars on myself to seem special. But as a tradeoff, many times I found myself wondering, ‘Why am I doing this?’ and if forcing myself to live the way I was expected to actually mattered.”
Yet, the amount of adversity that comes with these stressful four years is often formative of the morals students will take with them to college and beyond. As a current junior, watching my friends in the grade above mine receive their college acceptance letters and figure out where the next chapter lies for them brings out an unspeakable feeling of both nostalgia and joy. It seems as if it were just yesterday that they were saving a seat for me on the morning bus or holding my hand in nervous anticipation as the awards were given out at a public speaking tournament. “It’s the little, insignificant moments that you least expect to matter that end up coming back as you take a last glance at this place,” Anika Rawat admits. So when the time comes for this year’s graduating seniors to throw their caps in the air and transition into a world where they must do their own laundry, let’s not forget that although this may celebrate the end of high school, it marks the beginning of the adventure of a lifetime.
