To all future students at Carroll,

High school is a weird time in everyone’s life. For some people, it can be that way all four years. For others, it may not. And that is what is important about high school, and school in general. School is whatever you make it out to be. My freshman and sophomore year, I was still trying to figure myself out, both personally and socially. These last two years, I really settled in to who I am. When you can finally fuse your social and personal lives together, that will be when you are enjoying yourself the most, because you’ll finally be yourself in all situations. 

It is never too late to make new friends or have new experiences, which I think a lot of you will discover during your senior year, as I have. You do not have to have a certain crowd or group, and even if you do, do not be afraid to reach out to people outside of that. Most of you will have more in common than you know. As I said, high school is what you make it. But don’t think you have to force things to happen because you want to have good memories of high school. I can remember most of my favorite memories being completely out of my hands. 

High school does fly by. I can still vividly remember most of my freshman year. But you cannot stress about time. Time moves forward no matter what, so it’s what you do with that time that really matters. So when you get invited to that sports game or just to hang with your friends, remember that you only have so much time left with them. One of the harsh realities of college is that you will most likely have to make new friends because you do not have your old ones around. Overall, just take everything by day. Plan for the future, but don’t forget to live in the present. These can be some of the best years of your life if you do your best to make the most out of them.

Grant Grube