For seniors, recollections of the first day of high school can be little more than blurs of bagpipes, new haircuts and new faces. However, senior Nako Narter can remember clearly who she was amidst that blur: a freshman with a mission.
“Going into high school, I definitely thought I was going to be this performer. I was going to be on the stage all the time, and it was going to be my time to shine,” Narter said. “It was a two-year process of learning that that just wasn’t my calling.”

Social Sentiments

Transitioning from prioritizing social acceptance in middle school, the typical freshman has issues relating to friendship, Wellness Center clinical supervisor and psychologist Dr. Alisa Crovetti said.
“It is in the early adolescent stage that primates and non-primates want to be in a group,” Crovetti said. “Then they move out of that and need to figure out friendship.”
Among the ninth graders, freshman Genevieve Raushenbush has indeed noticed friend groups fluctuating in size. Raushenbush said that two other major issues in her grade are balancing work time with social time as well as overcoming insecurity.
“You just have to become comfortable with yourself in your own skin,” Raushenbush said.
Sophomore Danny DeBare has observed that within his grade, people generally care less about social hierarchy than they have in the past.
“They’re finding out what they want the rest of their high school career to be,” DeBare said.
Like Narter, junior Ken Lyndon-Williams began his life at PHS with a mindset completely different from his current one.
“I went into high school thinking, ‘You gotta be cool, and you gotta make sure the popular kids like you,’” Lyndon-Williams said. “I was a jerk to people because I was like, ‘Oh, you’re not cool,’ and I never got to know them.”
Now, Lyndon-Williams believes in being kind to everyone, prioritizes having fun, and is much more active socially.
Narter said that the prospect of leaving high school encourages more connection among seniors.
“A lot of seniors tend to forget divisions,” Narter said. “We all want to enjoy ourselves and enjoy each other and bond as a grade before we leave.”

Academic Adjustments

However, Narter also said senior year is not much easier, despite the common misconception that the workload will lessen.
“I’m so excited to be a second-semester senior that I forgot we have this semester of hard work,” Narter said.
Narter said that college is definitely a priority.
As school work becomes more rigorous, teenagers rapidly develop social and executive skills such as organization and time management along the way.
“They become much more capable of thinking abstractly,” Crovetti said. “Understanding cause and effect becomes possible for the adolescent brain.”
DeBare said that school work is already more difficult than it was freshman year.
“I would say it’s about the same amount of homework , but the homework is harder,” DeBare said. “Homework is actually helpful compared to freshman year, when it was more tedious.”
Lyndon-Williams has taken measures to avoid the typical junior year stress, and said that he has stopped caring so much about school.
“I worked really hard freshman and sophomore year, so I kind of burnt out,” Lyndon-Williams said.
Sometimes, rewards can accompany this adversity.
“There’s something really bonding about the junior year struggle,” Narter said.

Growth Goals

English teacher Mercedes Foster said that at Piedmont, the idea of growing intellectually is celebrated not only in the classroom but also among peers and at home.
“Every teacher here wants to help create adults so that when we meet you outside of this environment we will be proud to know you, be able to trust you, and want to continue a relationship with you,” Foster said.
Foster also said that a goal for students should be to improve upon their mistakes throughout their time in school.
“I want [seniors] to look at their past years in the PUSD and say, ‘I made a bunch of mistakes and maybe I wasn’t my best self a lot of the time,’” Foster said. “‘However, I’ve made steps to change that and I’m closer to being the person I want to be than I ever have been before.’”
Narter said that growth starts from within each individual’s goals, not from the school’s objectives.
“I don’t think it’s about how Piedmont does it for you, I think it’s how you let Piedmont do it for you,” Narter said. “Last year I really felt like Piedmont was not a good fit, but now I don’t think that and nothing’s really changed except for me.”
Similarly, 32% of 63 students surveyed felt that their own thoughts and actions are essential in determining the overall quality of their high school experiences and 51% felt they are very important.
All freshmen should adopt an optimistic attitude for the rest of high school, Narter said.
“You’re gonna get over basically everything,” Narter said. “That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t let it happen to you in the moment — feel everything as fully as you need to — but understand that it’ll pass.”
Raushenbush hopes that when she graduates in 2018, she will have made meaningful connections with people and taken advantage of every opportunity.
“I want to just know that I did everything to its fullest,” Raushenbush said.