Last week, the second semester of the 2023-24 school year started, and with that, it’s now the final semester of high school for the seniors at Tahoma. It’s been a long journey, and we are now in its final stretch. The seniors around the school were prompted to reflect on their high school journey, how they feel about leaving high school, how they feel about the future, and how they will remember their time as a Tahoma senior. 

Viviana Melgoza, a senior at Tahoma reminisced, “I met my boyfriend in high school, and I met my best friends here, I’m obviously going to miss it a lot,” which is a sentiment we all share. There is no doubt that all seniors built a special bond with many people here, and it’s going to be tough to let go of that. 

Jacob Santos put forth, “I think I’ll look back on high school and think about all the great people I met here, and the great teachers I had that helped me become better at basically everything,” another great way to look back on high school is gratitude. As seniors, we have had so many amazing teachers and become much better students and people overall, a lot of it thanks to the teachers that are here to guide us. 

Lastly, some seniors were prompted on what their next step is and how excited or nervous they are about it. Viviana Melgoza stated, “I’m excited because I know I’m going to start traveling, and focusing on my own goals from now on,” with this next phase of life, seniors are definitely going to start being more independent and see themselves become travelers, and get to explore new places and their own goals and dreams, which is a great deal of excitement.

Jacob Santos replied with, “I’m excited to go to college, and meet new people, and start fresh, but also to progress as an artist and work on things that I want to, and take classes that I want to.” One of the main drawbacks of high school was that in the four years of high school, many classes that seniors took, they didn’t necessarily want to take. However,  with college, seniors are happy that the next four years will be much more personalized and enjoyable in terms of the classes that they take. 

Seniors are also stressed about the future. Ellie Smedes expressed, “I’m worried about finances, and like who isn ‘t?” This is a valid concern that many seniors share, and it’s important for all seniors to have open conversations with their families about finances for the 13th year. However, the worries are short lived, as Ellie Smedes followed up with, “But I’m also excited about the future because there’s a lot that we get to do as adults that we can’t do right now,” while seniors find it hard to come to grips with the responsibilities of being an adult, they’ll find refuge in the freedom they have. We will travel, try new foods, live with roommates, etc. and that’s the most exciting part. It’s important to not worry about the future, and rather look at the new opportunities it brings.

All in all, the seniors reflect on their journey as a positive one, and it goes without saying that seniors will miss this place. The community, the friends, the teachers, the classes were the biggest parts of their life for the last four years, and it is now coming to an end. There’s this shared bittersweet feeling amongst all seniors, there’s undeniable excitement about the future, but also a sorrow feeling of an era coming to an end for them. and in this time it is important to let go of things with grace and move on in life seamlessly- to be excited about the future, and happy about the times passed. 

The next step- whether it be college, work force, travel, etc. will all bring seniors a newfound sense of enjoyment, clarity, and purpose in life. As they reflect on their journey and gear up for graduation in the coming months, it is important to let go of things with grace and move on in life seamlessly- to be excited about the future, and be grateful about the times passed.