Graduating high school is one of the most important accomplishments for most of us. Not all of us know what or who we want to be. Part of it is that we are scared because school is the only thing we have known for as long as we can remember. Some of us are ready for the change, already having a job or more schooling lined up for what we want to do.  

“I really didn’t think I would make it this far,” MHS senior Kaden Summers said. “Ten years from now I think I’ll be out of town, maybe with a wife and a couple pets.”

Some of us aren’t ready for the future and what is to come but we can’t run away from it anymore. Unfortunately, we haven’t invented time travel, yet so we just keep moving forward.

“Graduating high school means I’m becoming a dang adult, and I’m terrified,”  Maize South junior Izzy Walsh said. “You have to do taxes and navigate the world by yourself.”

Some students wonder if they could have done more with their high school years.

“I wish I could have found the programs I had wanted, but looking back it’s a lot more desk work than I would like now,” MHS senior Jack Hudson said.

Some students are happy with the classes they chose in high school.

I like Advanced Woods because it doesn’t require you to be smart,” MHS junior Autumn Fisher said. Fisher is planning to pursue work in Aircraft manufacturing and cabinetry.

Many students are looking into tech schools instead of four year universities because they want more hands-on work and don’t want to get stuck sitting at a desk for an eight-to-five job. 

I’m planning on attending a tech school for my architectural design certificate.  The lack of interest in office jobs has plummeted with students as well as myself wanting to get out of school and go out into the field.  

Not everyone is looking or wants the same path as everyone else. Everyone should pursue what they feel their calling is despite if it’s a little more difficult or no one you know has done it before.

“I think students dropout of college because we are lazy as a society, and when students are faced with something hard, they give up and quit,” architecture teacher of Wichita state university technical school Jeremy King said.

Going into college straight out of high school can be scary and also hard to do without the right funds because going into debt early in life can be detrimental to a person’s lifestyle. 

 “I’ve considered nursing but that was too much schooling for me, and I kind of just want to be done with school,”  Walsh said.

Adding on another two-four years can be a little much, after being in school already for twelve years. Some students would rather take a gap year and go be kids while they still can. King said that even though he wouldn’t change anything about what he did or where he ended up in life he would go back to those days if he could. 

“I was a wild child. I did everything under the sun, but I couldn’t tell you what I wanted to be when I grew up,” King said. “I never planned on being a teacher, but fifteen years ago when I became a teacher it just kind of fit.”

Growing up can be scary, but we all have to one way or another. You can try and fight it as hard as you want, but it’s only a matter of time till it catches you and then you can’t run anymore after that.