As I start my senior year, I have been reflecting on my previous three years at PHS. It has been bumpy, but throughout all three years I savored the experiences I had while the lyrics to Taylor Swift’s “Never Grow Up” played in my head. I never imagined one day I would be able to relate so closely to the lyrics, wishing I had never grown up.
Being a freshman is hard. You are at a whole new school with all new teachers and peers but it’s important to remember that despite the bumps and turns you will look back at these days fondly. I encourage you to take every opportunity you are given and to keep going no matter what. By the time you are a senior, your time here will almost be up and you will realize that the good memories outweigh the bad ones.
“I just realized everything I have is someday gonna be gone,” Swift said in “Never Grow Up.”
Right now, you still have time to enjoy your high school years so don’t waste them worrying and holding yourself back. Join a club, play a sport, hang out with your friends because eventually these years will be over. So, before it’s too late, make those memories and savor them because they will be some of the best days of your life.
I wish you all the best,
Emma Casto
As I walked into the cafeteria doors on my first day of my senior year I thought, “Wow, this is it.” Right now for you, four years probably feels like forever, but it will never be enough time. High school is the best and worst years of your life at the same time. It is stressful, tiring and overall, just hard. But you also have the opportunity to create an amazing four years of memories. You get to have four years of laughs. You get to have four years of being in school where its community is bursting with pride. So my best advice? Don’t take anything for granted. Everything will happen for a reason and even when your emotions feel too big, talk to someone. You can’t get through the upcoming years alone. Everyone who comes in and out of your life is special. So, go to games, dress up for Spirit Week, join clubs, get involved and don’t be afraid to step out of your comfort zone. You are given four years to still be a kid and with my four years quickly coming to an end, I urge you to not take a single thing for granted.
Best of luck,
Brooklyn Miller
The biggest piece of advice I have for you is to get involved! Ever since my freshman year I have been involved in clubs like Student Council, Key Club, Diversity Student Union and all the grades’ respective cabinets. Now I am the vice president of two of those clubs and have made so many unexpected friends from it. Even if you just join one club or extracurricular, it makes your high school experience so much more enjoyable. Another piece of advice: do not stress yourself out. You are just a freshman. I promise you it is not that serious. You will have plenty of things to stress about your junior and senior year so don’t go and get a head start on it. Following that, get your work done. Try not to procrastinate. I know you wanna doomscroll on TikTok for hours instead of doing your science project. It sucks, I get it. But what’s really gonna suck is when you see all the Fs on your report card. Get your work done and study. Lastly, to quote Sabrina Carpenter, “Please, Please, Please” stop running in the hallways. I understand we only have four minutes to get to class but I should not have to check my surroundings because I hear The Flash running down the halls. Nonetheless, enjoy every moment because those four years seem to slip right by you.
Wish you the best,
Aubrie Kendall
I’ll be the first to tell you, the movies lie. There are no Regina Georges or group dances in the cafeteria (sadly). High school is not a prewritten script. It’s unpredictable and wild at times. But that’s the beauty of it, because in the midst of it all, you get to write your own story. So, do the things you love, whether that be a club, a sport, a class or hobby, even if you have to push yourself. Holding myself back is my biggest regret from freshman year. Life, and especially high school, is too short to let the ideas of others dictate what you do. You never know, it could be one of the best decisions you ever make.
So, just go with the flow. Always be kind. And enjoy these next four years and make them as movie-worthy as possible.
Sincerely,
Isabelle Rollins
It might seem like graduation is a lifetime away, but it will be here before you know it. When people say high school is a “blink and it’ll be over” moment, they are right. So try your best to soak it all in, join a club, go to the games, leave your mark on the school in some way. Find your home away from home. It makes your very short time here that much more enjoyable. The people you surround yourself with, whether that’s your peers or teachers or Barney, are so vital in shaping your experiences.
When I walked into the building on my first official day of high school three years ago, I had no idea what to expect but, as I have grown and gotten more and more involved, I know what to expect. I know that I have a place here, that I am one of the 1,500 students that makes this school what it is. And I know that you are too. You will find your place here, you will find your people and you will find something you love and care about. So my biggest piece of advice to you is: take it all in. Notice all the little things you enjoy about being here and stick with them, because before you know it, you’ll be walking across that graduation stage, leaving Parkersburg High School and doing something amazing with your life.
Good luck. You’ve got this.
Sam
Only three months ago, I was one of you. I wasn’t super outgoing. I tried to lay low as much as possible. I’m not going to tell you to join 10 different clubs. That would stress me out. Though, you shouldn’t just quit because you’re nervous to talk to someone, or that someone would judge you. If you told freshman me that I was going to be in a seven-person class talking to seniors and juniors, I would have a heart attack. However, being in the newspaper was my one thing I was passionate about in my freshman year. My advice is, find one or two things you are passionate about. Focus on those and strive to get into that class or club. Even if you have to talk to someone. Because if you don’t, you could regret it. Trust me, I haven’t done a lot of things because I was way too scared to talk to someone.
One last thing: be yourself! It’s the best thing you could do through school. Even if someone could judge you, at least you were yourself.
Good luck,
Saya Minear
