News/Features editor Emma Gottfried

Parkway South has pulled, poked and tortured me through four grueling years of high school, so here are my words of wisdom to survive this miserable bottomless pit of despair.

Ok, maybe that was a little too dark because it hasn’t been all bad. I’ve made a lot of friends here and have taken some really fun classes. However, since I’m optimistic, I haven’t been able to realize how I wish I would have spent my years in high school differently.

First and foremost, freshman year sucks! Every other student hates you because you are “clueless and ignorant fresh meat.” Most of my freshman year was spent with my head down and my nose in a book. What I wish I would have realized is your freshman year sets the tone and reputation for the other three years. My advice, join a few clubs! I wish I would have joined some clubs because I love the clubs I participated in later on. I also made tons of new connections in these clubs that I wish I would have made my freshman year. I have been a part of FACS club, Scholar Bowl, NHS, Drama Club, and the A+ Program. By taking on new challenges, I became more social and I have been better off since.

Sophomore year is pretty must the forgotten year; you aren’t an upperclassman yet, but you don’t get attention for being an annoying freshman. This is the year that you want to find the things you are interested in. Take classes that sound interesting and find what you are good at. This is the year about you and developing new skills to help you in the long run.

Then when junior year comes along, the time is come to figure out what to do with your life. This is the time when most people look further into colleges and military options that suit their needs. I was a little late on this process so I didn’t start until senior year, but I wish I would have started in eleventh grade because then I would have known how to plan my senior year better. If I would’ve known what my options were, I certainly would have applied sooner, and probably would have got a little more scholarship money as well. This would have helped me for my senior year.

Senior year is certainly seen as the easiest year of high school, but in my experience, this is not seen to be true. Sure you might be done with all required classes, so you can take “blow off classes,” but there are also other things that need to be planned for. Along with accepting colleges, applying for scholarships, and making sure you have everything required to graduate, there is also grad parties to plan, senior photos, prom, AP tests, and much more. This is the year to plan for the future. What is life going to be after high school? Are you ready to fend for yourselves? I know I am certainly not! The thing is, I don’t think anyone is ever ready to graduate and leave part of their life behind, but hopefully I can figure it out on the way.

This has been Emma Gottfried, editor of the News/Features section, signing off my last written work for the Parkway South Treaty.

Emma plans to attend Truman State University where she will study Biology with a focus in Forensics or Genetics and with a minor in Journalism.