Time to reflect
Students prepare for graduation and next phase of their lives
“For me, prom is a big celebration to congratulate the grads on everything they’ve done. It’s a big party to celebrate all that we’ve done and how far we’ve come.”
Grade 12 s tudentRuth Ann Swayne
For Grade 12 students, school has been their life for many years. At the end of it all, they’re greeted with a celebration that is bittersweet.
Ruth Ann Swayne is a Grade 12 who is very familiar with this feeling of ‘being a grad.’
“Graduation is definitely a bittersweet feeling, considering it’s the start of a big life change. It’s scary, but exciting,” Swayne said.
“The best part (of high school) has by far been my work in the NSISP (Nova Scotia International Student Program). I’ve made friends for life and they’re from all over the world,” Swayne said as she reflected on her three years of high school.
Swayne is an ambassador with the NSISP and served as a counsellor in training at the “English as a Second Language” summer camp.
Aiden Lynk is another Grade 12 student who feels the pressure of moving onto to another chapter of his life.
“The thought of doing life on my own gives me chills and makes me question if I am prepared or not,” Lynk said.
High school brings ups and downs. Every student deals with them differently. For Lynk, he describes his favourite part of high school as “an exciting time to just be a teenager,” better known as Red Cup. Red Cup is an annual hockey tournament that features the Riverview Redmen backed up by a crowd of spirited students.
But for some students, high school also had its downs.
Swayne explains that her least favourite part of high school would be the social stress with her friends and classmates.
Both students already have their plans for after high school. For Lynk, this will involve a move.
“After high school, I will be moving to Edmonton to be with family and study for my Bachelor of Business with a major in marketing,” Lynk said.
Swayne will not be going far at all.
“After high school, I’m going to NSCC to study nursing,” she said.
The excitement of future plans can often hide the fears that Grade 12 students have about growing up.
“I think one of my biggest fears is being forgotten by my friends and being so focused on working and making money that I forget to live my life,” Swayne admitted.
However, before the students embark on the next chapters of their lives, they have a big celebration ahead of them, prom.
“For me, prom is a big celebration to congratulate the grads on everything they’ve done,” Swayne said, “It’s a big party to celebrate all that we’ve done and how far we’ve come.”
Both students hopped on the promposal train this year. Lynk created a parody to the song “Perfect” by Ed Sheehan as a fun way to ask his girlfriend, Arial Cope, to prom.
Swayne also conjured up a creative promposal.
“I had asked a friend of mine to be my date last year,” Swayne explained, “Then this year I promposed by making a poster with a bunch of photos of us and the poster said ‘we’d make a picture perfect pair, so will you take me to prom?’”
With prom and graduation just around the corner, the Grade 12s are buzzing with excitement, but also a little fear.
But it’s a pretty big time of year. Who wouldn’t be a little scared?