By Cameren Brown, Courier Staff Writer

Senior year is all but over, and as 12th grade students prepare for a new chapter in their lives and await graduation, I decided to ask a few their thoughts of their last days and overall year of k-12 education.

For the most part, a majority feel an overwhelming sense of relief such as Daniel Raanes, “I feel like I’ve been on autopilot this whole year, just waiting for this moment. I’m just so glad it’s all over.” I asked him to reflect upon his favorite part of highschool overall, if any.

“I think it was the first two years, actually. It was a new experience, but it didn’t feel too scary or anything. I got to make a bunch of new friends over those two years mainly, so it made the transition from middle school easier knowing I had people sharing the experience.”

Most seniors seem to share a level of enthusiasm, but there are a few, such as Austin Sanders, with a contrary view. “Honestly, I’m a bit scared. Yeah I can’t wait to have some freedom outside of school, but I’m not completely sure what I want to do further on.” I also asked what his favorite experience was, “I really liked my pharmacy course this year. I’ve always been interested in the subject and I’m glad the school allowed me to experience it. Maybe that’s what I’ll pursue in the future.” I’m sure we can all relate to just a little worry about the future, but it seems the optimism just weighs it out.

I asked the two if there were any regrets or things they wished they participated more in. Daniel replied, “There were a few clubs I was interested in, but never really got to join. I probably would’ve if more people I knew were joining, but it’s alright, I tend to not have much time after school anyway.” Austin weighed in with, “I don’t regret anything really. I didn’t do all that much but what I did get to participate in was fun, like the penmanship club I was involved in.”

We never know what the future holds, but we can only hope that these four years prepared us for the outside world. And as we go on, we’ll hopefully look back at our glory days and remember what it was like to have so many options in front of us.