Advice to the Class of ’07; former grads weigh in

By: Madeleine Johnson
   With graduation less than a week away, South Brunswick High School’s Class of 2007 can’t quite believe they’re about to become alumni.
   "It’s not really setting in yet. Everything’s been, ‘It’s my last this and my last that,’ and you can keep saying that, but it’s not really hitting me yet," Krista Belick said. "It’s kind of scary and it’s exciting because it’s something new, but I’ll be leaving my comfort zone."
   "I can’t believe that it’s actually my graduation," Hilary Berk added. "It feels like just yesterday I was going off to kindergarten for the first time, and now all of a sudden I’m not going to be living with my parents anymore."
   Stephanie McIntyre is the vice president of her class, which means she will help call out her classmates’ names during the commencement ceremony at the Sovereign Bank Arena in Trenton on Wednesday. She admits that she can’t wait for that day to come.
   "I am so elated it’s not even funny," she said. "I’m so excited. I want to get the last four years over with and move on in life. I think it’ll actually hit me when I’m (at graduation)."
   Michael Mariano can’t describe how he feels about graduation, but, like Stephanie, is looking forward to a new experience.
   "It’s kind of a weird feeling. I don’t think it’s all kicked in yet to the point where I’m realizing I’m going off to college," he said. "Usually, summer and school were a revolving door kind of thing, but now I’m excited. I’m ready for this summer and college and to move on to the next phase of my life."
   Some students said senior year was more academically challenging than they were anticipating.
   "Everyone said senior year was going to be easy and I was expecting it to be easy, but I got the same amount of work as I did the other years," Hilary said. "But once AP testing was over, it wasn’t as intense."
   Stephanie said her senior year was so demanding because of the classes she took and the effort she put into them.
   "I would always go out and try my hardest. I learned so much from my honors and AP courses, especially because they required you to do so much work and I had great teachers who definitely added to the excitement of my senior year," she said.
   During Krista’s senior year, she found practical uses for much of the knowledge she had previously acquired.
   "I feel like it was a good ending because I feel I used everything I learned in the past, not just school-wise but socially. I took everything and applied it to my life and learned from everything that happened to me and it made me a better person."
   Michael also said he benefited emotionally from his senior year.
   "I feel like I did a lot of growing up this year," he said. "I feel in the past I worried a lot about things I didn’t need to worry about. I’ve become so much happier overall this year."
   The students will carry fond memories of school with them when they leave for college in the fall.
   "The peer leadership programs were definitely awesome. I got to meet new people and become really close to them even though it’s our last year of high school and you’d think you’d know everyone by then. It was a weird way to begin an ending, I guess. But it was awesome to have that relationship with everyone," Krista said.
   Since athletics were a big part of Hilary’s high school experience, she thinks she’ll miss her teams the most.
   "What I’ll miss most is probably my sports teams and the people. I did field hockey and swimming and I think I’ll miss being a leader in that," she said. "I might continue with sports in college, but it’s not going to be the same."
   The students know that, even though they’re looking forward to college, it will be difficult leaving home.
   "I think that’s going to be the worst part. My mom has been amazing through my entire life. I can’t thank her enough for all she’s done. She’s done more for me than most kids’ moms. She hasn’t done it to the point where I’m incapable, but I feel like I have a lot of learning to do once I’m not at home when it comes to being more independent," Michael said.
   "I’m going to have to get used to being independent," Hilary said. "I’m upset about leaving my family. My parents and I, and my sister especially, are very close with each other and it’s going to be very different with me not in the house."
   In the meantime, they plan on enjoying the summer as high school graduates.
   "I can’t wait to go shopping and buy decorations for my dorm. And clothes," Stephanie said. "I just got my course selection book and I’m looking at these amazing professors and classes and I look forward to choosing what classes I get to take."
   Hilary will be spending a part of her summer getting a taste of media production, which she is considering studying in college.
   "This summer I have an internship in Newark for this production company. I’m interested in production and learning about the media," she said. "For my internship, I’m going with the production company to try and find locations for movies and TV shows. I start the first week of July and it goes to the last week of August."
   Now that their days as high schoolers are coming to a close, the seniors have some advice for the Class of 2008.
   "Don’t underestimate yourself," Hilary said. "If you don’t know about getting into college, don’t sit and think you won’t get in because of some little factor. No matter what, you should apply to as many colleges as you want and not be intimidated by their high standards."
   Krista also learned a lot about the college application process that she wishes she would have known sooner.
   "Get your application in if you do early action and early decision. I procrastinated when it came to early action deadlines. But if you get it done on time, you find out sooner and your college decision is a lot easier. It eases your mind a lot to know that everything’s done," she said.
   Stephanie and Michael’s advice focuses more on how to get the most out of senior year.
   "Work hard and play hard. Seize the day," Stephanie said. "Don’t slack off in your classes because you’ll have to work even harder at the end. At the same time, have fun."
   "Senior year can be as good or bad as you want it to be," Michael said. "If you go in expecting to have the time of your life, you will. But if you go into it worrying about this and that, it can be a very rough time. There’s a lot of pressure to get into the colleges you want to get into, but you’ve just got to be positive."