I am a 2024 senior and we had quite the unusual experience starting at Toll Gate high school. When the Covid-19 pandemic took over all of our lives in 2020, we started completely online and only as the year went on, we eventually went into the actual school. We didn’t use lockers, we wore masks, and everything was restricting overall. By the latter half of sophomore year, we finally took off our masks but nothing has felt the same since before lockdown.
Anyone reading this who is to become a freshman next year, I really can’t give you any advice that is helpful because of our unlikely beginnings but I can say you will get used to navigating this school. I would strongly urge all of you to start participating in clubs, events and so on. One of my biggest regrets, which is partially due to the pandemic, was not being a part of enough activities. To my freshman becoming sophomores, I would like to say that sophomore year was the most influential year of my life as I went through so many trials and tribulations but got out just fine. Obviously, all of our experiences will be different but I will say that in the next coming years, your lives will drastically change.
For the sophomores becoming juniors, I will say the same thing except to expect a period of winding down as you approach your final year. The juniors becoming seniors, do everything you possibly can to make it the best year possible for yourselves and others. Depending on what you do, senior projects will definitely take a toll on your anxiety but it will all be worth it and it might be easier than you may expect. I know it is very easy to be pessimistic about this school and even the people who are a part of it but, I honestly beg you to show some form of gratitude to the friends you’ve created, the memories you’ve shared and the achievements you’ve made. I know I could easily be sugar-coating for many and I don’t want to change your opinion about this school if you have strong feelings against it so I respect your opinion nonetheless because it is certainly not squeaky clean.
For privacy reasons I won’t mention their names, but I have made so many senior and junior friends that I am beyond grateful that I had the chance to meet and got to spend time with them. It might be hyperbolic to say but I believe that some of them have genuinely changed my life and morphed me into who I am today. To me even the littlest of interactions I have had with students or teachers, those I’m not even that friendly with or haven’t had as teachers, has meant a lot to me. There have been some teachers who have changed my perspective on life itself in a number of different subjects and some who have inspired me to pursue my own interests. There are so many teachers that I either wish I had another year with, had but didn’t get the chance to, or sad to see go because I have had them for so long.
To anyone who knows me and is reading this, thank you. Even if you don’t know me, thank you for however you’ve contributed to this school, thank you. It has been a pleasure to write for the Toll Gate tribune ever since junior year and I want to give a huge thank you to Mrs. Buffington for allowing me to have a place where I can express myself and my interests.
