By Ashley Biazar
It’s a time of reflection for La Cueva High’s seniors, who will be heading in new directions after they graduate May 19 at Tingley Coliseum. Some of them recently discussed how they changed over their four years here, how high school life has impacted them, and how the school could better serve future students.
“Through high school the biggest change is probably maturity because I mean I was just a kid at heart,” Julian Hugg said. Showing immaturity “was just something I would overuse as an excuse to get away with stupid things, and once consequences got realistic, that maturity kicked in and I need to get my head on straight. I need to start my life and actually be ready for what's to come.”
Preston Chavez said, “The biggest change would have to be jumping after my comfort zone, whether it’s communicating with other people, making new friends, making new connections, and also taking challenging courses that would serve me well in the future. That was something I used to be afraid of and I had to learn to grow a bit."
Said Marisol Hall: “I am pretty sure when COVID hit that was the biggest change because I had to go online and I didn’t get to talk to anybody. I forgot to socialize and going back it's a lot different, but I enjoy it.”
Some seniors said meeting new people was the most impactful aspect of being at La Cueva. “I have made a lot of friends and they have changed me in a way,” Seth Williams said. Ash Gonzalez said she has met “a lot of really great people and a lot great teachers that have helped me improve my vocabulary and helped me improve my abilities. They have trusted me with a lot of things and I think that it is something I probably couldn’t have gotten somewhere else.”
Naveen Dajani said La Cueva can be a good place to grow. “It depends on who you're hanging out with honestly,” she said. “If you're hanging out with a good group of people, you will have a good year.”
Seniors had thoughts on how La Cueva could improve for future students.
“Maybe the teachers could have different methods of solving problems and bring more activities to the classrooms and more breaks, stuff like that,” Trevor Williams said. “Let kids eat in the classroom, have snack times, have little breaks every now and then so you don't feel like you're trapped in school.”
“Even if the teachers are bad, maybe if they let you have a snack,” he added.
Catalina Estrada said La Cueva could add “more classes that are impactful for life.”
Isabella Menezes said, “I think that teachers could be more understanding, and I don't think there are a ton of things the teachers do wrong. I feel like they all try and help us all out, but they can definitely be more understanding.”