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Better student body builds stronger communities
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Written by Amy Tang, Staff Writer
As the summer heat turns into a fall breeze, students anticipate an exciting, yet challenging new school year. Like the changing color of leaves from green to brown, students change their previous goals to fit the new standards of high school and create fresh ones. Students mentally create a New Year’s resolution, or rather, a New School Year’s resolution for the’09-’10 school year, setting high expectations for themselves to prove that they know what it takes to graduate.
“Last year, my goal was basically just to pass junior year, no matter the grade,” senior Nageen Mir said. “After first semester, anything above a 70 satisfied me. But now, as a senior, I realize that barely getting by won’t cut it anymore. I have to set my standards high and push my limits to be the best that I can be.”
‘High school years are the most important years.’ Yes, students hear it all the time either from parents, teachers or counselors. It becomes so cliché that students fail to realize that they really do spend their most important years in life in high school. Elementary school provides the building blocks of life and middle school bridges the gap between transforming from a child to a teenager, but high school prepares this generation for the future. The classes students take, the choices they make and the relationships they build now all contribute in shaping their lives after college. High school allows students to have a little taste of each career field before choosing what they want to do after graduation. It provides a foundation for future goals and jobs. Whether taking home economics, clinical rotations, athletics or more, high school offers an endless list of choices.
“School is worth it and it is necessary because once you have that basic foundation, then you know you can go do anything,” junior Nikki Sachdeva said. “You can take a leap of faith; you can take risks.”
One common goal of students includes finding a balance between good grades and a good social life. Students can make the best grades but have miserable lives, and that’s not being successful; on the other hand, they can have great social lives and neglect their academic duties. With that said, high school lessons include not only educational lessons, but also teach students how to manage time academically and socially.
“I think once you realize time management, your routines, and how to get back to normal, you understand there is time when you can have fun and play but you really have to focus also,” Sachdeva said.
When students make good decisions and goals, they not only benefit themselves but also generate a better school environment, which then creates a stronger society. These choices do not pertain solely to school life. Even though the decisions made in school influence many aspects in students’ lives, the decisions they make outside of school have an even greater impact.
“School is important, but at the same time I try not to let it dominate my life,” Xiong said. “I try to let myself take control of my life rather than have my life control me. I think that high school experience is super important, and not just the school part, but the socializing and how you have to interact with so many different people.”
As students cross the bridge from high school to senior high, they begin to realize that the goals the make now aren’t just for themselves. The idea of getting that 100 on the test to be the best succumbs to gaining knowledge to help society. Students learn not only the what but also the why.
“Sometimes you’re sitting in class and you’re coloring the ocean and thinking what am I doing?” Sachdeva said. “Why is this important? But I realize that because of our education and the way we’ve been brought up, we have these thoughts and desires to go and meet our goals and help people. If you go out into the world, if you travel, if you interact with others, you’re going get that sense of being clever, and knowing your way around as opposed to what a textbook can tell you.”
As individuals, students need to make choices that will yield greatness. Students need to assure not only parents and teachers but also themselves that they can stand on their own. And as one, united student body, students should take upon what they learn and experience in high school to figure out how this knowledge can benefit the community. Most important of all, society calls for the class of ’10 and ’11 to be great examples for the future student body.
“I think when we look back on it, I think a lot of us will say that in high school we probably ended up accomplishing quite a bit,” Xiong said. “I think everyone one of us can each leave some kind of impression on the community, be it whether through academic success, community service, extracurricular activities or involvement with the student body. There are a lot of things the class of ’10 and ’11 has to offer for both the school and community.”
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