As of this week, I’ve been at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute for a month. Honestly, summer in Hanover working at my friend’s company seems like it was a lifetime away at this point. RPI is in Troy, NY, a suburb of Albany about 3 hours from Hanover. An apt comparison for people around here would be Boston and Cambridge, albeit a little more industrial and gritty. Troy is a very fun city to live in and it’s nice to walk around Downtown at night with still many businesses open and running. Orientation Week went by slowly, but as soon as classes started, life picked up pace dramatically. I find myself staying up until midnight consistently in order to get everything done and still have time to get out and be with friends. It’s been fun to make all new friends and have a sort of fresh start at everything. I have met people from all over the country and even a fair number of international students. It makes you realizes how small Hanover really is in the grand scheme of the world and it’s given me a whole new perspective on people. Suffice it to say, my experience at RPI so far has been quite a ride.

Even with taking only four classes, the workload has surpassed anything Hanover ever assigned me. Though that is probably the case at any college, no one realizes how easy they have it in high school. At the risk of sounding cliche, taking a senior year schedule with real classes does make a difference in being ready for college. For instance, the Calculus 2 class I’m taking right now literally picks up right where Mrs. Gallotti’s Calculus AB class left off with integration by parts. Physics 2 at RPI also overlaps Doc’s curriculum extensively, especially in the spring when he gets into electricity and magnetism. I know both of those classes can be hard and, at many times, extremely frustrating but it’s worth sticking with them because that’s the level that my college courses expect you to have from day one.

Outside of classes, I’m amazed by the sheer number of things happening on campus at any time.  There are so many clubs you can join, both professional and more fun-oriented. I’ve gotten involved with RPI’s student newspaper (The Polytechnic), Pep Band,  Symphonic Band, and even the RPI branch of the IEEE (my major is Electrical Engineering). The Poly (www.poly.news) covers the events occurring around campus and also seeks to keep RPI administration accountable by reporting on their major decisions. It’s a great model for The Indian, in my opinion. Pep Band performs at home football and hockey games and travels away to a couple of hockey games every year.

Yes, this is college and there are parties and other “extracurricular activities,” as I’ve always jokingly referred to them. Part of the experience in the first month is to find the perfect balance between having fun and getting work done, something that I am still trying to find. I find making that balancing act is a part of growing up and becoming a real adult.

College has been very fun so far and I encourage all seniors to get away from Hanover and experience the world outside of Southeastern Mass. Being away from your family and current set of friends lets you find out who you really are and really grow as a person. I’ve only been at RPI for a month and I won’t be back to Hanover until Thanksgiving, so I have bit of time for “personal growth” still ahead of me.

Only one thing is certain about the high school experience, the fact that the end of senior year and graduation come all too soon. You go from being kings of the school to being thrust out into the real world having to make your own way in life. It’s a scary thought because while you have accomplished much to get the fine achievement of graduation, everyone is all of a sudden equalized by the school of hard knocks. All faux-philosophy aside, I want to be able to formally say good bye to a group that has given me so much over the past two years.

Being the senior Editor in Chief this year for newspaper has been one of my best high school experiences. I have watched newspaper grow immensely this year. It is the perfect continuation of what started my junior year. Officially, I was the News and Web Editor but I couldn’t just silo my efforts to those two things. We started off using a third party host and while it was good initially, it quickly failed to meet the needs of our growing club.  Halfway through the year, The Indian transitioned to being hosted internally at the high school – on the same server that hosts our sister publication Hanover Literary Magazine as well as the Hanover Public Schools website – using a server that was found literally collecting dust on the floor in the school’s main data closet. Mundane technical details aside, I am proud to say that The Indian has enjoyed the full support of the Hanover Schools. District and high school administration have answered our questions and have fully supported our efforts to report on the myriad of issues affecting the life of the student body here in Hanover.

This year, The Indian has gotten to the point where we write new articles on a weekly basis. We’ve also introduced a Teacher Spotlight and Student on the Street section. Matt Barresi, with the help of Peter Palmer, has led a very comprehensive sports section and every school sports team was covered at least once. Our social media footprint has greatly expanded to include a very active Twitter account, Facebook page, and Instagram account. We’ve also done a number of publicity stunts, whether it be giving away free hot chocolate or candy canes to students coming in the morning. You’ve all seen the mini frisbees we had made with the school logo on them and have probably used our pens. Our staff has also gone on two trips: one to a Celtics game to hear their media staff give a panel presentation and another to the New England Scholastic Press Association conference at Boston University where we won an “Excellence in Publishing” award for this website.

I have to thank the small, but dedicated staff of The Indian for really committing to such an aggressive schedule. First, I can thank Andrea Bilton for being willing to take over in my role next year and for being the junior Editor in Chief this year. I know I’ll be leaving The Indian in the hands of amazing leadership. I also thank the rest of the staff: seniors Mackenzie Welch, Matt Barresi and Eric Carey; juniors Cate Marchetti, Jill Drummy, Callie MacDonald and Peter Palmer; sophomore Lauren Bilton; and freshmen Kristen Marchetti and Pierce Ghostlaw. Without their diligent efforts there would be nothing to publish. Finally, I would like to thank Mrs. McHugh for her invaluable professional journalism experience and unwavering support as our adviser for the past two years.

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Andrea Bilton and I got a number of pictures together and I figured this goodbye piece would be woefully incomplete without collecting them all. I’ve purloined them from a variety of social media sources including the HHS Indian twitter and various Instagram accounts.

Well, it’s that time that I honestly did not see coming, it was pretty much like a slap in the back of the head. I won’t go long with my introduction other than to thank you for tolerating my strange writing style and it’s been a delight writing for this newspaper. Lastly, this article isn’t just my advice, I asked some of my dear friends what they wish they would’ve known and I’ve included their advice in my article. Here ya go, fair winds HHS Indian.

Things we wish we would’ve known before entering high school:

1. High School Musical is a LIE

2. Don’t take high school too seriously

3. Take Risks. Join clubs, audition for plays, try out for a sports team, etc

4. Don’t be friends with people only in your grade

5. Be cautious of some of the cafeteria food

6. One grade is just that: one grade

7. Don’t become romantically desperate

8. Be friendly with your teachers, or at least learn how to get along with them

9. If you don’t understand something, immediately ask for help, don’t just sit there in utter confusion

10. Do your best to stay focused but it’s OK to take a break every once in while

11. Don’t overwork yourself

12. Love yourself. Seriously. And a good way to improve self love is to love the people around you.

13. Your friends will change a lot, and so will your friend groups

14. Time management makes a difference

15. You will argue with your parents, but don’t make them your ultimate enemy

16. It’s okay to spend time alone

17. Follow what you like, rather than what is cool

18. Don’t slack off your junior year