Senior role models

BY CAROLINE SIELING & SARINA SANGHVI Staff Reporter

With four years of secondary school experience under their belt, seniors have acted as role models for underclassmen and helped them navigate through their first years of high school.

As the school year comes to a close, seniors are reflecting on their time at Sequoia and incoming freshmen are preparing for a new chapter in their lives.

“I feel, as a senior, it’s a little bit of my role to guide [underclassmen] into making the right choices,” senior Collin Bastis said.

Sports like football can be a brand new environment to many freshmen when starting high school. Senior’s gained experience offers underclassmen a guide to look up to. With senior Ryan Benson’s four years of football experience, he recognizes the importance of these upperclassmen and underclassmen relationships.

“I feel as though I have been a role model at Sequoia due to the fact that the football program is very connected with the Varsity and Junior Varsity so the younger kids are always looking up to the older older players. I’m [also] definitely a role model to my

With Ryan’s younger brother, Dylan following in his brother’s footsteps and starting football for the first time his freshman

“He influenced what position I play and helped me with what he thought I would be good at,” freshman Dylan Benson said.

Gaining support from people who have already gone through the experiences of highschool can be helpful to underclassmen who do not know what to expect. They can remove a lot of the nerves and anxiety about the unfamiliarity of entering a new environment.

“I have a different level of respect for [seniors] because they’ve been here for the longest [amount of time], they have more experience and probably know more about [Sequoia than we do],” freshman Juliana Vattoune said.

Although under and upperclassmen are not often placed in classes with one another, electives offer opportunities for all grades to come together. Sophia Vattuone is a senior who is in orchestra and has helped her freshman sister, Juliana, transition into the class from her former middle school program.

“My [freshman] sister and I have orchestra class together so introducing her to that class, especially since it’s very different from the middle school class, it was really helpful for her to introduce her to the teacher and all the stuff that we do in class and concerts. The underclassmen have been really looked up to the seniors and juniors especially [with] what to do for concerts and practice,” senior Sophia Vattoune said.

Sophia has years of knowledge about what truly matters in high school, with the knowledge of how things should be done she is in a great position to offer advice to underclassmen, like her sister. Juliana remembers how her sister’s encouragement has helped her break out of her comfort zone during a time of uncertainty.

“There was a field trip for my ethnic studies classes and I was kind of debating about whether I should do it. I was thinking that maybe this is going to be a waste of my time and my [senior] sister was really encouraging me to do it because it’s another experience outside of school. And so then, I took her word, and I went, and it was actually pretty fun,” Juliana said.

With field trips, football games, rallies, school dances and more, Sequoia has many events and school experiences for students to attend. Some people debate whether these events are worth participating in. They question whether they are actually memorable and valuable experiences and a waste of time. Towards the end of highschool, some students regret not participating in the unique aspects of high school.

“Join clubs, 100%... definitely join clubs, [you’ll] get to see and talk to other people,” -AJ

Juarezv

“Having a basic planner or somewhere you can keep track of all your assignments is important because there’s always so many little things to do.” -Asha

Smith

“Getting to class on time or early , and turning in your homework always helps [build relationships with your teachers].“ -Reza

Parsey

“Build a very close group at the beginning of high school, because it’s really important to have a good friend group… Obviously people will come and go but having that one support group is really beneficial”

-Sophia Vattuone

“Get involved with anything you’re interested in. Join ing an academy that you think will help you along the line and after high school or even joining a club that [aligns with your passions] is important Finding leadership roles is also beneficial.”

-Ezmay Lopez

“Doing sports helps a lot with making friends and meeting new people. Also, going to sports games or school events can help you make a lot of memories and have fun since it’s such a big part of the high school experience” -Valeria

Ramirez

“Don’t slack off to the point that you’re just disregarding any sort of academic behavior and what you should be doing as a student. Pay attention to the teachers,” -Colin Bastis