I’m nearing my final days of walking the halls of Central. I have gone through the emotions of being sad, but I’m also excited to enter the next chapter of my life. The past four year I have embraced my Eagle pride and have been downtown proud, and I wouldn’t change any of it. But, if I had to tell my freshman, sophomore, junior, or even early senior self-anything, this is what I would tell her:  

1. Leave your house.  

You are not going to create lasting high school memories in your room scrolling through your phone. I think I realized way too late that I can go out and about by myself. Even when I couldn’t drive, I should have taken more advantage of public transportation and my love for parks. Any day can be an eventful day by just putting yourself in a different environment.  

2. Who cares if you stick out?  

I should have shown my personal style through my clothing throughout the last four years. I think a lot of us buy clothes that are cute but end up sitting in our closets because you don’t have an opportunity to wear them. While I love being comfortable at school, why not wear the items of clothing that are rotting in your closet? 

3. School spirit is not embarrassing. 

My freshman year, I began taking school spirit seriously by dressing up for theme days and going all out. But, in the middle of my sophomore year, while I was still dressing up, that feeling of embarrassment hit me. Central has an issue of most people not participating in school spirit events, which frankly I think is dumb. High school is one of the only times where you dress crazy for a theme and there is no corporate dress code to tell you to dress down. Be the center of attention because it does not matter. Looking back, the most fun memories I have are when I dressed up and participated.  

4. Introduce yourself to others.  

I can bet that in every single one of your classes there is at least one person that you do not know. There is no harm, literally none, to just getting to know people. Who knows, maybe they would become close friends. 

5. Take your classes seriously.  

Why not? Paying attention in class is completely free. Would you want to be a part of a society that is so lazy that they can’t even give their teacher the time of day? I understand maybe you didn’t sleep well last night or were working, but Central provides a free education with teachers who want you to succeed.