Senior year. 

 

The countdown year. 

 

A year that is an incredible year in itself, but with all the added benefits, it makes this year extraordinary. From leaving during lunch periods to grab lunch at Rosehill with friends to getting more independence outside of the school building due to free periods at the end of the day, the year has its perks. 

 

However, the feeling of knowing that we won’t be going back to school in the Fall like we have been for the past few years of life is upsetting, but also exciting at the same time. Although this does have its drawbacks because the school has become a home for all of us, being a senior has many more pros. 

 

The end of senior year is the beginning of a new future, creating new relationships, moving to a different place - for some - even a different state, and learning new things. Learning more about oneself. The start of something new is a promise for all that we can become. 

 

This year has prepared me for my future better than I could have ever asked for. Westlake High School provides the strongest support system and provides every student with the ability to  transform into the most successful version of themselves. 

 

For example, for those of us who took AP Classes, we got the opportunity to take college level courses with the best teachers, which made the difficulty of the courses seem not so difficult. If you didn’t enroll in those, but took the opportunity to venture into some of the many art classes, you were sure to push your creativity to the limit. If art wasn’t your thing, you could’ve taken Criminal Law or Sociology and experienced a better understanding of current events and society. 

 

Nonetheless, if different classes weren’t a student’s thing, we all have the option to enroll in the Senior Experience. Westlake handles the Senior Experience very well by allowing students to pick anything at all as a future path to study by actually being able to walk in those shoes. This is beneficial because in less than a year the majority of us will be in college on our own and making decisions all by ourselves. Considering that the Senior Experience pushes us out of our comfort zone and into the working world, we actually get to participate in the workforce. It allows the opportunity to explore and understand what we think we are interested in and perhaps draw a conclusion that it may actually not be an area to pursue further. 

 

At the end of the day, seniors get the opportunity to go out into our town or neighboring towns and speak with local businesses about taking the opportunity to learn from what they specialize in. We were encouraged to find a place of our interest, allowing students to get a true understanding of a field with the hopes to pursue it later in life. What is more important is that it gave many students insight into an interest that they saw wasn’t actually fitting for them; which alleviates any wasted time studying a particular major in college. 

 

The Senior Experience is all about gaining knowledge and experience. Regardless if students enjoy or dislike what they chose to do, they now know what they do/don’t like, sending them off in the best possible direction when they leave Westlake’s campus after graduation.