A simple two weeks off of eighth grade snowballed into classes strictly between screens and most being enclosed into their houses. The transition period that would prepare middle school students for high school turned into a time of panic and confusion; for many was the worst few years of their life. Many look back and recognize that this impacted them abundantly.

Now that the class of ‘23 seniors have crossed their tassels and are heading into a new chapter of their lives, the class of ‘24 rises as the new royalty of the school for their last year of high school. The last transition for this group since middle school from being stuck on computers to walking the halls of Walter Johnson.

Anticipating an eventful year, many look forward to school festive events, applying to college, and sharing final memories among friends.

“I am looking forward to the prom, being less stressed, and senior beach week,” junior Jasmin Wu said.

The reality is that junior year is considered one of the most stressful years in high school as it is the year that many take to prepare for their college applications and manage standardized testing. The stress stems from the SATs, having to juggle academics and maintaining extracurriculars.

Senior year can be viewed as the Friday of the week as many feel less stress after college application season. Another big thing in senior year is being able to drive and having senior parking. At times being able to drive can give a refreshing taste of independence.

“Looking forward to more freedom in my schedule and my classes as at the beginning of our high school career you don’t have much freedom in picking out your classes,” junior Rheem Tungcod said.

Senior year allows students to venture into more of what they are passionate about and what are interested in doing in the future after graduation. With many hopes, the same amount of worries may fall upon the rising senior class. The stressful process of college admissions seems to be common among many rising seniors.

“I’m mostly just nervous about college admissions. It seems like a daunting and life-changing task, and I think most other seniors would agree,” junior Anthony Levri said.

As previously mentioned, admissions are one of the scariest tasks faced in senior year. According to a survey taken by high school students, nearly ⅔ of students would say that the college admissions process is overwhelming. The process in itself is tedious through the extensive research of colleges, writing applications, submitting applications, and ending up having to choose a college.

But before all of this stress, the class of ‘24 were the newly entering freshmen, the “little ones” of the school.