By Pauline Miller and Henry Gomory
On Wednesday, June 23, the Princeton High School front circle will swell with folding chairs, metal bleachers, and far-flung relatives, for the annual graduation ceremony, before emptying for the summer. The weeks and months leading up to this milestone occasion have included anticipatory events like the Senior awards night, Yearbook dedication and final exams. These events have created an air of coming finality and simultaneous eagerness and nostalgia on the part of the senior class. Amongst all of these reminiscences, we decided to gather a group of high school seniors to discuss graduation, moving on, and high school in general.
The apathy of second-semester seniors is well known and even in gathering a group of students for this conversation, “senioritis” was at play. After numerous calls explaining why some couldn’t come, and calls from my end not being picked up by others, I managed to gather a portion of the original planned group. Those stalwarts who made it were Carl Mitchell, Denis Mahon and Nathalie Levine.
Carl came to PHS in his sophomore year, after attending PDS since kindergarten. He has been very involved in the PHS and general Princeton music scene, playing saxophone in the PHS Studio Band for all three years at PHS and playing in a band outside of school. He will attend Oberlin College next year, as part of the dual liberal arts and conservatory program.
Denis has attended PHS for all four years. He played for the hockey team for four and ran track for the first three years. Recently, he has become involved in many community service groups, including the HiTOPS teen council, Big Brother, Big Sister and TAG, which respectively promote teen sexual health, provide positive role models, and teach about drug and alcohol abuse. Denis will attend Boston University in the fall.
Nathalie explains that she was not overly active in her first two years of high school. But, in her junior and senior years she played a key role in the school newspaper as style editor and was co-president of the Gay Straight Alliance. She will attend Yale University in the fall.
I, Henry, participated in the conversation as well, making the group a quartet. I was editor of the school newspaper in high school, co-president of the philosophy club, and I will attend Harvard College after a gap year in India. The conversation was also occasionally peppered with comments by Pauline Miller, a junior at PHS.
Henry Gomory: Starting freshmen year, what are some of your favorite memories?
Pauline Miller: And how did you change? What were you like freshmen year?
Denis Mahon: Well freshmen year was really awkward I guess because you’re forced into this new school with a bunch of people you don’t know, and you kind of have this image of what you think is cool, and there are all these older kids that you think are like [awesome]. So I kind of tried to be someone that I wasn’t.
PM: What was that like?
DM: Well, I tried to be in with these older kids that now I think are like idiots and I don’t want to associate myself with them now.
NL: I think freshman year I was kind of like easily upset, I had one teacher that I didn’t really get along with, and I let it make me really mad all the time. I think I’m really not like that anymore, possibly because I have better teachers now and more things that I like, but it also gave me some perspective, it wasn’t worth it to get that upset.
DM: I feel like the administration’s cracked down a lot, I feel like you used to be able to get away with a lot, but not so much anymore.
NL: It’s going to be worse next year.
Carl Mitchell: Yeah, and just with, like, closing all the doors, I guess they’ve become more concerned with security, with Power School and such. They’re just tryina’ keep track of where everyone is all the time, which didn’t used to be such an issue.
HG: Okay, we’re gonna do a little jump in time, to sophomore and junior year, what were those years like?
CM: Well, when I came to the high school I hardly knew anyone, so it was really beneficial thing that I was in studio band at the time, because it’s a community thing that you’re a part of, and it’s just people who are interested in the same thing. When you see them in the hallway, it gives you a sense of being part of something.
HG: [to Nathalie and Denis] Were you guys in any form of a community?
NL: Well I’ve had a lot of the same friends all through high school, but I think that I didn’t get involved in a lot of clubs and stuff until like junior year, so that was a big change in like how much fun I had during the year, because I was like meeting different people and branching out.
DM: Yeah, definitely later in high school I got more involved in things, and I feel like it made much deeper relationships with people, and earlier on it was very superficial.
NL: Yeah I didn’t enjoy the first two years as much, and I think it’s because of like, how well I knew people.
HG: In terms of friend groups, how have things changed?
DM: I feel like I’ve had a different group every year.
CM: yeah, same with myself, and honestly when I moved to PHS I didn’t keep up with my friends from PDS because I liked the people at PHS more.
HG: In terms of senior year, how has it been with the college process and such?
NL: [pause] We don’t want to think about that! I was about to be like, ‘oh, I loved senior year!’ and then you were like ‘college’ and we all just…[laughs].
Henry: Okay so which year would you say is your favorite year?
NL: Definitely this year.
CM: Or possibly junior year.
DM: Yeah, junior year was good.
NL: Or, intellectually junior year, but in terms of a good time, this year, but I wasn’t satisfied with my classes as much this year. They were fun, but I didn’t feel as challenged as I did last year, which I liked.
DM: Um, I feel like right now, I’m the happiest I have been, but the beginning of senior year was the most stressful time I’ve had in high school.
NL: Yeah, I agree
DM: I was just so overwhelmed with work, but now I’m the happiest for sure.
HG: What do you remember about the first day of school? As a freshman?
NL: Oh man!
PM: Who remembers that?
NL: I was like really lost, and kind of scared, and everyone seemed really old. 8th graders are so, they’re like little kids.
DM: I felt like I didn’t belong!
NL: Yeah, same. I’m a little concerned that I’m gonna feel like that in college, there are gonna be people in our classes who are like, full-fledged adults.
HG: What are your thoughts on college, and what it’s gonna be like?
DM: Well, once again you’re thrown into this situation, I mean college, for most people, it’s the first time they’re living alone, and you don’t know the people you’re surrounded by, and I feel like you just feel lost.
HG: What trepidations do you have about college?
NL: I’m really worried about not keeping in touch with my friends, and I know there are people that I know and I like and I’m not going to keep in touch with, and I’m okay with that, but there are also people that I’m really close with, and I’ve either known them for a long time or it’s just recent, and whenever people tell me ‘oh, well, the first year you’ll come back and hang out with your high school friends on breaks, and then after that you’ll realize that you don’t really like them anymore, and you never really liked them, and you like your college friends better’-that makes me really sad! So I’m kind of worried about that.
HG: Yeah, I’ve heard that a lot.
NL: Yeah, isn’t that awful?
CM: Yeah but I feel like that happens to everyone though, just because you’re thrown in a new situation, and you change.
HG: Let’s think back more, what were some of your favorite classes?
CM: Well, this isn’t going to be a popular one, but I really liked Mr. Sullivan’s regular English. It was a really hard class, and especially having it senior year there were times when I just didn’t want to deal with all of the work, but he is a really good teacher all-in-all and I probably learned more in that class then in any other high school English class.
DM: I’m in that same class with Carl, and our class is really small and there’s a lot of discussion, and I think it just opened so many ideas.
CM: And there hasn’t been much of a sense of pretense or haughtiness.
NL: I really liked environmental science with Mr. Anderson, because before that I thought I hated science, and I thought I was going to take the easiest science and I was really upset that I had to take environmental, and I was really worried that I was going to hate it, but I ended up loving it. And now I kind of like science, which is good! If you had asked me two years ago, I would have told you that I hated it.
HG: So looking back, what would you change about high school?
CM: I might have wanted to get more involved in more activities and sports, and I feel like sports can really change your high school experience, but I never got involved because, I don’t know, they weren’t really for me, but I think it would have been nice to be part of that.
DM: I guess for me, I kind of wish I had done more academically, and I feel like I slacked off for a lot of it, and I feel like I didn’t really try to challenge myself, and I didn’t take as full advantage of going to such a good public school.
NL: I think that the first two years I should have done more activities and seen the big picture more and remembered to be more happy, [laughs] I don’t know! You know how in the middle of the winter, every class feels really boring, and I didn’t feel like that the past two years
HG: What has this end of the year been like?
NL: Well I have two free periods so I don’t do any homework at home, and I don’t do any homework in my first free period. So that’s been really good second semester because I really haven’t had to do any work outside of school.
CM: I’ve found it sort of stressful actually, just like slacking off, because then there’s always some sort of assignment in the back of my head, like ‘Oh I should do this, but I can get away with not doing it.’ I feel like it’s better just to get everything out of the way. It’s less stressful to live that way. As seniors we’re sort of expected to slack off, but it’s really stressful balancing not doing anything with doing enough to get into college.
DM: Yeah there was a month when I just didn’t do anything, then there was when HiTOPS was busy and I was working two jobs and I quit one because I hated it anyway. I had to try to figure out what was worth it, decide what I actually wanted to do.
HG: It’s so weird especially after having such a busy high school, transitioning to having nothing to do. It can be really stressful, but it’s nice and can be liberating because you only have to do what you actually want to do.
NL: Yeah, I hope I get my work ethic back next year. Otherwise I’ll keep doing everything at one in the morning.
HG: What do you think it’s going to feel like, Thursday, June 24th [day after graduation]
NL: I’m going to be super busy this summer, so hopefully that will mean I won’t have time to be sad but it’ll probably feel kind of unreal and sad. I think waking up Wednesday will be the most sad.
HG: What’s top on your list for this summer, what do you most want to do.
CM: I’d like to reread a lot of the books from High School that I sort of glossed over that I feel like would have been worthwhile, but you know it’s too tempting to go on sparknotes.
DM: I guess I wanna be able to spend time with my friends. Because it will be the last time… but it wont be the last time, we’ll have breaks. But I have an internship so I’ll be working five days a week.
HG: When you think back about high school how do you feel? I mean, I feel pretty good about high school.
CM: I feel like even the mistakes I’ve made have benefited me. If I had just acted perfectly I don’t think I would be as interesting, as world-wise as I am now.
HG: Yeah there are memories I think back on and like I’m ashamed and feel stupid but I think by thinking about those times I have matured a lot.
DM: Yeah I feel like everything I’ve done has made me who I am today. And, I guess, I like who I am.
NL: Yeah, I agree. Part of me is like if I could do it again with what I know now it would be better but I don’t think it would be better, it would be really different, it wouldn’t have been as bad at some parts, but maybe it would have been more boring.
HG: So then how do you then feel about college? Do you feel like PHS has prepared you?
NL: I don’t know
DM: I have absolutely no idea, like I don’t know what to expect.
NL: Yeah I feel like I might not be prepared. A lot of people say that junior year at PHS is harder than college but I don’t know. And the whole thing of living alone while having a ton of schoolwork, that’s not like, Scantrons. That might be kind of hard at first, with like nobody that you know, nobody you’ve met, and you’re living by yourself, and you have to write a bunch of papers, that will probably take some adjusting.
HG: Yeah one thing we haven’t really talked about is going away, it’s like a big transition aside from going to college, or rather a part of going to college.
CM: I’m definitely looking forward to it.
DM: Yeah I’m excited; it makes me nervous though.
HG: Okay, so lets end this on a superficial note, what was your favorite memory-
NL: Don’t you want to ask us if we’re sad?
HG: Well, yeah, I sort of thought we covered that, but okay, are you sad?
CM: Yeah I’m definitely sad, I mean who wouldn’t be sad you’re leaving all these people you’ve spent so much time with, and like Nathalie said it’s nice to think that you’re going to be able to keep up with everyone but probably not.
DM: Yeah realistically,
NL: But you know, we’re Facebook friends. All my cousins who are thirty are like, ‘you’re not going to keep up with them, they were not Facebook friends.’ But actually I’m concerned with that: maybe I’ll comment on someone’s status, and be like ‘we’re still friends,’ but…
DM: Yeah my older sister, is still like best friends with her old friends, but I feel like she has an atypical situation.
HG: Okay… most embarrassing moment?
NL: No
HG: C’mon…
[silence]
CM: Not gonna say it; I’m gonna think of something slightly less embarrassing.
NL: Yeah.
HG: Okay, funniest memory, fondest memory.
CM: Okay, during our last studio band performance, the conductor was being kind of strict, but Matt Flotteron, the bassist, he’s pretty bad at drums but he insisted on playing drums, it was just really fun you know, it brought a renewed spirit to the group.
NL: One thing that’s interesting is that in the last two weeks I’ve been like ‘oh man I’m leaving PHS what if I haven’t met everyone who’s interesting?’ And every year I write little notes to my teachers, and this year it’s been really hard and there are a lot of teachers who I’m really close to and its hard to leave them. Like I talk to my teachers and in college you have to start over, building relationships.
