Seniors Share Words of Wisdom

As the class of 2024 approaches the end of their penultimate semester at Athenian, they have begun reflecting on the experiences that have played a key role in their development and perspective. Whether it be learning to connect with others through Zoom in freshman year or overcoming the various challenges presented by AWE, the class of 2024 has been endowed with a plethora of knowledge and experiences. In order to help prepare the rest of the student community for what is to come, the seniors agreed to share pieces of advice based on what they learned during their time at Athenian.

12th-grader Kat Berg said, “Always reach out to people, whether it’s people in your grade or not in your grade or faculty or staff… Athenian is a very open community and people will usually wave to you as you walk by, especially staff…I noticed that when I look sick or I’m coughing a lot on campus, adults, even teachers, will be like ‘Go to the nurse’s office.’”

“[Talking to your teachers and peers] also makes you a more active member of your community, which also increases your enjoyment of a community as well as makes the community itself better and opens more opportunities,” Kat added. “Just reach out and don’t be afraid to talk to people, because people are open when they want to talk to you.”

Others also advised that students expand out of their comfort zone and connect with those around them, mentioning opportunities such as AWE or clubs. Some even discussed the long-term benefits of joining these social groups.

“It can be hard to find your place, but going to clubs is the way to do that,” said 12th-grader Cal Nunes. “[The people in clubs] are going to be your best buddies for the rest of the time and it’s a good way to talk to upperclassmen, who can also give good advice on a personal level.”

While some seniors were able to find their community through clubs, others connected with the community through sports.

“When I came to Athenian, I didn’t do running at all,” said 12th-grader Max Bennet. “I just started doing cross-country at Athenian and immediately found the coaches awesome and made friends in that small portion of the community.

“Honestly, I’m glad that I stayed doing cross-country and track, but I think it would’ve also been cool to try out more of the sports and clubs here and connect with more people.”

Similar to Max, other seniors encouraged students to explore possible interests and use it as an opportunity to further root themselves into the community. Some seniors encouraged students to connect with faculty.

“Your teachers want to see you succeed; they don’t want to see you fail,” said 12th-grader Katy Sprague. “I really struggled in freshman year with Physics and I didn’t want to ask for help, because I was afraid that I was going to be the only one (I was not). Bruce was so helpful in helping me, because he was able to explain things in a different way.”

Other students shared similar words of encouragement when discussing faculty.

“Going to office hours or blurting ‘Wait, can you repeat that again?’ isn’t going to make you seem less intelligent than you are. You’re not going to be judged for attending office hours,” said 12th-grader Quynh-Anh Nguyen. “It may seem embarrassing at the moment, because you are more vulnerable, but it’s going to benefit you in the long run with less stress.”

12th-grader Callan Huang gave a similar piece of advice to the international student community: “All of the international freshmen seem afraid of talking to their teachers, but I just wanted to let you know that all teachers are really friendly and they won’t judge you based on your language level,” he said.

Some seniors wanted to remind the student community to not worry so much about grades and focus on their mental health.

12th-grader Ana Evans said, “Of course [grades are] important. However, I think there are more important things such as your own mental health as well as just having a good time... Once I realized that my grades weren’t attached to my self-worth, I noticed myself being a lot happier and having a lot more fun and enjoying just living life and with that came enjoying school more and enjoying the learning itself.”

“I’ve spent plenty of my school life trying to get the perfect grades, and I feel like getting an A will never feel as good as laughing with your friends,” said 12th-grader Liza Corr. “Learning things and getting good grades are nice, but you can be happy without a 4.0 GPA, perhaps even happier.

“Embrace the community and realize the school you go to and the community you have.”