As I’m getting ready to graduate from VHHS and move on to the next chapter of my life, I’ve been reflecting on my senior year and my overall high school experience. I’ve been friends with the same group of people for my whole life. Although there were minor phases of being friends with other people, I always found my way back to my original group.
Senior year, everything seemed to change. Although I still had my friend group, everyone seemed to come together, and people who never spoke before became good friends.
The first time I realized that things were different was during the senior sunset. In the past, everyone had their own cliques, and people wouldn’t really intermix groups. This time, however, everyone was gathering around taking pictures with each other, playing spikeball and football, and people were talking to others outside of their friend groups.
During the Kickoff dance, I realized that senior year was going to be unlike any other year of school I’ve experienced. As I watched the other groups perform before me I realized that all of the groups were cheering each other on and everyone was having so much fun. I realized I shouldn’t be worried about what other people thought of me and I should just go up there and have fun. I would carry that mindset with me throughout the year.
Vernon Hills is a town where you are with the same people from kindergarten until you graduate high school. As I moved to each school, I met more people and slowly added people into my friend group as I moved through middle and high school.
When I was about to start high school, I was told that my friend group would probably change, and I wouldn’t really talk to my middle school friends. During that time, I was scared because I had been friends with the same people since kindergarten.
As my freshman year started online, I was lucky. I didn’t have to worry about going out and possibly having to find new friends, because everyone was on Zoom and I could still talk to my friends all the time.
As my sophomore and junior year occurred, I made a few new friends that joined my friend group, and I lost some friends, but I was still really close with the same people I met in kindergarten. I’ve always felt a sense of comfort when I hang out with my close friends because they know me so well and no matter what happens in my life I know that they will be there for me.
Senior year, I got out of my comfort zone by talking to even more people and making a lot of new friends. I had finally gotten to the point of high school where people stop caring about their cliques and everyone comes together for one final year of our childhoods.
The first time I saw this happen was with the class of 2022. My brother was a senior, and I watched him make so many new friends that he never spoke to before. I thought that this happened because they got their junior year and the end of their sophomore year taken away from them, but then I saw the same thing happen with the class of 2023.
It amazes me how this continues to happen every year, and people put aside any high school drama to just have fun with everyone their senior year. It also makes me wish that all of high school could’ve been like this, because it would’ve made my high school experience so much better and I think a lot of people feel the same way.
I started expanding my circle during the Kickoff dance because it was such a fun experience, and I was able to bond with people over having to perform in front of the school because we were all nervous. During the dance all the senior groups were dancing together and when I truly felt we were united as a grade and everyone was going to be friends with each other this year.
As the year went on, I felt a sense of relief that I didn’t have to worry about what other people thought of me, and I noticed that other people were having the same realization. I expanded my circle and I started talking to people I’ve never talked to before, and suddenly I got really close with them.
After realizing that I am capable of going out of my comfort zone and meeting new people, I realized that I have become a lot more outgoing, and in college, I will be able to go out and meet new people without being worried that I’m being judged all of the time.
I hope my experience allows people to go out of their comfort zone and realize that everyone is worried about themselves instead of judging other people. I want people to be able to go out and have fun with everyone without worrying about what others think of them. Your high school experience is what you make of it and if you decide to make every year like your senior year I think you will have so much fun during your four years at VHHS.