When I was a freshman, I would physically cower down the hall. Head bent, I was absolutely terrified of upper classmen. They were so much older and so much cooler and so much smarter. And I was, well, I was a freshman. A fetus. A plebeian. Even though my big sis brought me cookies and donuts, I still felt this gap.

Things eventually got better. Sophomore year, I managed to go down the hall unphased. As I spent less time worrying if I was blocking the hallway, I talked to seniors more. They gave me advice and they comforted me. Instead of being scared of them, I looked up to and admired them. They were my mentors.

When junior year rolled around, and the gap between us and them was only a year apart, I became friends with them. I said hi to them in the hallways. They understood the horrors that came with junior year. Their words of encouragement and unrelenting empathy were always present. Even in their busiest times, they found time to talk to me. After all, they were living proof that we could do it. We could get through THE junior year.

We, as seniors, are not scary people!! We do not want to make your lives miserable. Simply, seniority is an important thing to us. We have waited for this for a long time: cutting the line at lunch, sitting in front at assemblies, random dance parties. And we hope that when your time comes, you will enjoy it too.

– Sonya Xu- News Editor – Mary Clare Wilson – Sports and Health Editor –