Dear Freshmen,

How does one sum up a mess of experiences, a collage of disappointments and victories, an unorganized web of lessons learned and lessons taught in a few pieces of advice intended for you dear freshmen?

If there’s anything our class can do, it’s overcome the impossible—so please, bear with us as we try to put our experiences and what we have learned from our experiences into words that will, hopefully, inform and inspire you.

First things first: talk to each other. Many of you are probably rolling your eyes reading this (if you even make it this far into the magazine… yes, we know you guys well), but it’s true. You’re the class of 2024, and like it or not, you will have to overcome a lot together. That puts you in an incredibly unique situation, one where you have will have the opportunity to make memories that last a lifetime—you might as well find things to like about each other in the process.

Learn how to trust each other. You never know when you might need a class study buddy (or someone to desperately negotiate with in order to borrow their notes before a big exam). On the other side, it’s always nice to have people in your class to stick up for you. In a small school, socializing isn’t always pretty, so gain allies (or better yet, friends) and you’ll be better off. Trust us.

Enjoy the simple moments. Yeah, sounds like a motivational poster with a cat hanging from a branch, but there’s a ton of truth in it. There might be days in the future when singing songs in the gym on Field Day actually sounds… fun? Yes, it might be hard to believe, but we’ve experienced it all, and we’re pretty sure you will want to listen to us. So dress up for the dance, run a few laps at the Jogathon and stop complaining.

Try to make school the best it can be. Don’t just sign up for an AP course because you think it will help for college. That logic has only led to a ton of unnecessary stress because you are NOT a science person, but still attempted APES (okay, this specific example might just be us projecting, but we stand by the advice. Sorry Faust). Instead, sign up for programs like STEM or Humanities, join The Fourth Estate staff or La Honda staff, start a club… we are just spit balling here, but the point remains: do what you know you will enjoy instead of what you think will boost your resume.

Be yourself, even if you don’t know who that is yet. We know as well as anyone that the person you are freshman year is not the person you are going to become in senior year. It’s called growth. As you grow and change, be true to yourself. Changing because you think you need to isn’t how you find yourself. And sure, you might never really figure out who you want to be (at least by senior year). But hopefully, you will be able to look back like we are right now and think, I like the person I’ve become.

Finally, and most predictably, have fun. Be happy. Enjoy these four years, because they only come once. Make friends, say “yes” to more than you would normally, learn and grow and chase every experience.

Now that we’ve successfully sounded like the inside of a Hallmark card, we’ll just say this: as strange as it has been, we’re jealous of you. Your journey is just beginning.

    Love, the Class of 2021