First trimester is nearly over. Tennis has ended. School pictures have been taken. The graduation photo shoot has been crossed off my checklist and grad invites are in process. What looms ahead is planning what I want to do with the rest of my life. As a senior, I find myself looking back and realizing how quickly childhood goes and with those reminiscences come regrets, great memories and lessons learned.

One thing that almost any senior can agree on is that it is extremely important to maintain good grades.

“Having good grades is really important because of getting into college and scholarships for college,” said PSEO student and NHS member Ally Mathwig. “Good grades are also important for preparing yourself for good study habits and self control in college and life in general.”

Senior Alex Sweeney has found that, as his last year of high school has hit, his GPA has come up a lot when finding colleges.,

“Not only does having good grades increase your GPA, but it has long-lasting effects like better planning and less procrastination,” said Sweeney.

Student Council President Camille Zupfer is not only the Queen of Homecoming, she is also the Queen of Multitasking,

“Good grades are important because it helps you with college, but also just the knowledge and work ethic you get from trying to get good grades is also beneficial,” she said.

As I reflected on these realities, I spoke with other seniors. The one thing we all had in common? There were things we wished we’d known or understood as underclassmen that could affect us now. So – if we could turn back time – these are thoughts seniors would like to share to their freshman selves

PSEO student Carmen Kivisto is a past Student Council Vice President and involved in other activities.

“I wish I would’ve learned concepts more than just trying to get an A on a test. Yeah, I have an A to show I understood it because I remembered everything before the test, but I had a hard time looking at the bigger picture,” Kovisto said. “With my classes now it would be nice to be able to have background knowledge on topics, but I focused too much on just memorizing them for the moment.”

NHS member and Girls Soccer player Amanda Koester spoke about this subject as well.

“Don’t stress about getting a bad grade because that doesn’t define who you are as a person,” she said.

There seemed to be one piece of advice many seniors had. They hope younger students will take their classes seriously  and try different things.

“I wish I would have tried out different groups and activities as an underclassman because they could make the difference on your college application and they could be more fun than you think,” said NHS member Max Globensky,  

If I could hit a rewind button I would have stuck with  activities that I had quit, joined some sooner, and tried activities I never did before.

The final advice seniors had was about deciding what college to attend, and what career to pursue.

“Start looking at colleges early,” said senior Danielle Deusenbery. “I know they say your future is super far away, but you should start thinking about what you want to do early on because it comes quicker than you expect.”

In looking for a college, take advantage of local opportunities like the 10th grade college tours and the college fair SFHS hosts. Also, consider planning college visits throughout high school, not just senior year.

Alex Sweeney had some advice to help relieve the stress of planning the future.

“Don’t forget to enjoy high school, don’t JUST focus on grades, also focus on going out and having fun with friends,” he said. “Relax, you’re only here for four short years; make the best of it.”