Eastern Michigan University student Makayla Myers is a very accomplished individual in high school and now in college. She was a straight-A student who involved herself in the community and even had the time to partake in extracurricular activities such as competitive dance. And that was just during high school. In college, she now plays an active role in a successful debate team and a mock trial team while simultaneously maintaining a hefty class load as she continuously works to obtain her bachelor’s degree. Yet, even with all of those admirable achievements under her belt, she still holds some regrets from her high school years.
“I did a lot in high school, and I’m proud of myself and the things I accomplished for the most part. However, I do regret not looking into outside law programs or workshops that I could’ve done. For example, I could have reached out to local law firms and asked to shadow them for a day or a week,” Myers said. “I believe doing that would have given me a head start in college and would have given me a better idea of what working in the law field actually entails.”
With graduation crawling closer and closer, many seniors, just like Myers did, have taken the time to reflect on the last four years of their lives as they get ready to move on to the next big step, whatever that may be. Senior Izzy Queen, for example, says she regrets not playing a more active role in her community.
“Looking back, I really wished I had pushed myself out of my comfort zone and taken on more leadership roles,” Queen said. “Not only would I have been serving my school and community in a respectful manner that way, but I believe it also would have done good in preparing me for my future.”
Queen isn’t alone in her rues as senior Casey Brown shares similar thoughts. Brown says she’s satisfied with her academic endeavors, having taken on and conquered a plethora of challenging courses such as AP classes, but wishes she had sought more opportunities for herself regarding college.
“I’m pretty happy with where I’m at in terms of my academic accomplishments. I feel like I’ve done pretty well for myself. However, I wish I had done more to get me ready to actually go to college in the near future,” Brown said. “Stuff like representative visits from colleges and college trips definitely would have made me feel much more prepared for what’s next.”
Some seniors like Coco Cesarz and Rachel Warrens have conveyed their regrets about not participating in the more social aspects of high school. Ranging from sporting events to school dances, both share a feeling of remorse for having missed out on these scenes.
“I definitely regret not attending things like the dances and the football games,” Cesarz said. “I think it would have been a good way to extend my social circle and to just have some fun.”
Warrens holds a similar thought process.
“One thing I regret in high school is not going to the big school events like games or dances,” Warrens said. “I think those would have been great memories.”
There are even students like senior Grace Dancer who regret not taking on the more daring and nerve-wracking social events of high school.
“I honestly wish I had forced myself to have done the Mock Rock last year,” Dancer said. “It sounded like so much fun, but I was too nervous to even consider it.”
Outside of community, college, and societal happenings many seniors hold regrets regarding their athletic careers throughout high school. For example, seniors Jason Gruber and Kaden Carpenter both wish they had taken up track earlier on so they could have reaped the enjoyment of it for longer than they were able to.
“I would say my only regret is not participating in track every year,” Gruber said. “I’ve found that I love the environment and conditioning in track.”
Carpenter shared this mindset.
“I regret not joining track sooner, it’s been really fun,” Carpenter said. “I’ve built so many friendships through track and the sport, in general, has brought me a lot of joy.”
Senior Jordan Husky-Wright, another avid track runner, wishes he had made more headway in the sport before time was up.
“Yeah, I wish I had gone to states with track,” Husky-Wright said. “That would have been a great way to end it.”
Similar to the rest, senior Zane Whitt regrets not playing soccer all four years of high school.
“Soccer is lots of fun and I’ve made a lot of friends through it,” Whitt said. “I wish I had decided to play every year.”
While seniors reminisce on their regrets, they are also reflecting on things they wished the school itself had done better. A recurring theme among the seniors is the want for the school to advertise the opportunities presented to them more boldly. Many feel like Stockbridge does provide students, especially seniors, with a variety of opportunities to take advantage of, but they also feel that they lack in making students aware those opportunities are available. Seniors have expressed that this lack of advertising made it significantly more difficult to fully make use of every opportunity at their disposal.
“Sometimes it was confusing,” Carpenter said. “Some things are hidden and if you didn’t know where to look it was really hard to learn about some of the things the school offered.”
Even Stockbridge school guidance counselor Leslie Cummings thinks the school could have done a better job at broadcasting what it has to offer.
“I believe the school does a good job at advertising events through means like notifications for the most part,” Cummings said. “But a lot of the time notifications get ignored and so I think it would definitely be beneficial to start sharing information about things like scholarships and programs through other means as well, which is where we lack for sure.”
Whether it be due to the school’s lack or personal doings, a large body of the senior class holds some sort of regret about something they missed out on in high school. These regrets fluctuate between a variety of things such as community service, college preparation, social events, and athletic careers. However, even with all of this heterogeneity, one thing is for certain: these seniors won’t be making the same mistakes in whatever life brings them after graduation.
“I think I speak for all of us when I say that we seniors will take what we learned through high school, whether that be our regrets or lessons we’ve learned, and apply them to whatever lies ahead,” Gruber said. “And we’ll all be better off because of it.”
