By Bradlee Dowling, ‘26, and Sienna Lamond, ‘26

Staff Writers

Give your best effort from day one, but don’t take things too seriously. Have fun with friends, but don’t neglect your schoolwork. Join clubs, play sports, get out of your comfort zone. These are some of the words of advice from seniors who responded to The Hawk survey.

High school is, first and foremost, about learning, many students advised. “Work as hard as you can freshman year,” said Katelyn Carney. Shannon Barrett agreed. “Actually try your hardest in classes,” she said. “Get things done on time.” Kyle Gonsalves echoed that: “Just do your work as much as you don’t want to.”

“Pick classes that further your goals in life,” said Payson Fowler, “and don’t be obsessed about getting perfect grades.” But do try to keep your grades up, said Mikey McLoone. “It makes the college application process so much easier,” he said.

Kenny Southwick encouraged underclassmen to “make good relationships with your teachers.” Ian Darcy advised students to “focus on yourself and learn from your mistakes, this will improve you academically and as a person in general.”

Exploring your world socially is as important as academics, seniors advised. “I would tell (students) to try and branch out and join a bunch of different clubs and sports,” said Kaelyn Chase. Paige Canny agreed, saying, “I have made amazing friends that I may have never met had I not joined extracurriculars or spoken up when I was sitting with new people in class. You will never regret forming connections.” 

“Don’t let fear stop you from doing something or else you will regret it,” advised Clyde Thibeault. “Play sports,” said Vinny Mancini. “Get involved in as many clubs and extracurriculars as you can,” added Connor Hutchison.

When it comes to navigating through life, there’s one essential piece of advice, according to Addy Potter: “Don’t be afraid to advocate for yourself.” Anthony Mann echoed that sentiment.  “Just be yourself and follow what you want to do, try new things and figure out what you like,” he said. “Be unapologetically yourself,” said Kate Baldinelli, “and do not do anything you don’t want to do.” 

Keeping perspective, and not stressing about the small stuff, was a common theme. “I would tell younger students to not stress over their classes too much and to just enjoy high school,” said Bella Almeida. “It goes by quicker than you can imagine so don’t beat yourself up over a ‘bad grade,’ especially since the switch from middle school to high school is very different.” 

Sam Curtis expressed a similar sentiment. “I would tell younger students not to stress too much about the smaller things,” she said. “I wish I knew that not everything was a huge deal and I wish I gave myself more grace to enjoy my time in high school.”

“Have fun,” said Alex Fredette. “Not everything needs to be taken so seriously.” Added Christina Meehan, “Nothing matters as much as you think it does.”

High school is a time of growth and change, especially when it comes to friendships. As one senior said anonymously, “Friends will change a lot throughout high school, so my advice is to not be afraid to reach out to new people.” Nick DeMarco added, “I wish I talked to more people earlier, to get to know as many people as I could.”

“High School is not scary,” said Joe Picard. “It will be one of the best four years of your life. Make sure you have a very good friend who will always be reliable whenever you need it.” 

Each stage of high school offers its own unique set of experiences, so don’t be in such a rush to grow up. “Enjoy your time as an underclassmen,” said Thomas McNamara. “Don’t wish that you can be a senior ASAP.  Live in the moment.” When you do get to senior year, though, Morgan Sullivan encourages students to “bring lunch and give yourself an easier schedule. I wish I knew that senioritis is inevitable.”

Sophia “Jazzy” Clark covered many bases with her response to The Hawk survey. “Some advice I’d give to younger students is 1.) Stop waiting for Friday, the weekend, school vacations, and the summer to be happy. 2.) It doesn’t matter if you have a bad hair day or wear the same clothes twice in one week, no one cares. 3.) You can’t work towards your goals if you are wallowing in your past. Just like you can’t ride a bike while staring behind you. 4.) Spend less energy on what’s out of your control and more on how you react/handle it. 5.) No one is born a professional athlete, a doctor, or a businessman. If successful people can do it, so can you. 6.) In 20 years you will regret more of what you didn’t do than what you did.”