Seniors, or Freshman?

Hi, my name is Rachel Morley and I’m a member of the junior class at EGHS. Which you know. But hey, I’m proud of it. I have battled my way through more than two years of high school; the light at the end of the tunnel is near. Senior year is so close I can almost taste it. However, before the final and most fantastic year of high school there are a few road blocks. Firstly, the senior project. All students have to complete this in order to graduate. And I have sure seen enough “senior-project seniors” bloodshot eyes, mussed hair and usually clutching a large coffee to know that this is not going to be a cake walk. 

What’s next? Oh, only one of the most important decisions we will ever make in our entire lives. When posed with the question, “Where do you want to go to school?” or “What are you planning to do?” most juniors stare back wide eyed and mumble an incoherent “I dunno.” But the seniors, oh, the seniors reply with a concise “GW and a doctor, but minor in Spanish.”  

This is what separates the rest of the high schoolers from the senior class. The seniors are confident and ready to take on the rest of their lives. The seniors are practically adults. Actually, most of them are.  

So, my question is where have all their rewards gone? These girls and boys, or should I say, men and women, have successfully completed three years of high school, which is more than the rest of the school can claim. And through the process, most of them have transformed into responsible, respectful adults.  Therefore, these adults should be treated as such. As of now, East Greenwich High School treats the seniors the exact same way as it treats freshman, with one exception. The seniors get to eat outside. In their fourth year of high school, with many of them legal adults, the only privilege they get is to eat outside. Which they can’t even do from November to March. How is this fair?

When I ask around school, I get answers that blame past classes for their immaturity and I hear isolated stories of people misbehaving. I say, give our seniors a chance to prove themselves! After all they have been through, they deserve to go off campus for lunch, or have a study hall. Or be given a coffee machine. Something to make their lives a little better. Because for four years, school is our life.

Oh wait! I did forget a senior privilege! Only, my class is the first class that won’t be able to take part in it. That’s right, rumor has it that the class of 2013 will not be graduating early. Unlike ANY other class that has gone through the school in the time that I’ve been there. What is that all about?

Until next week,

Rach