Oct 14, 2014 5 min read

The Young Observers met for their typical Thursday meeting Sept. 18. Inside the walls of the Observer-Reporter, the students were partaking in a mass interview, a roundtable. The objective was to discuss school experiences and current stages of life to compare how they differed. The longer the conversation went on, and the more students spoke, the more the realization hit that, despite every member of the Young Observers being unique, there was an undeniable trend in the stories. This trend proved most high school and middle school students share similar experiences, and the people in the room weren’t that different after all.

Eighth-grader Lydia Grant kicked off the conversation and summed up middle school in a matter of two sentences: “I was a melodramatic preteen, and I thought my life was over. Everything I thought was wrong.” Looking back on middle school, those are statements mostly everyone in the room related to.

Jenna Ronto, on the other hand, went from a seventh-grader in one school to an eighth-grader in a different school specializing in the arts. Jenna explained it was “stressful knowing a lot of people have a lot of talents and you aren’t the best,” which I think every middle and high school student can relate to. Though she attends an arts school, Jenna still faces challenges, must learn the basics every other school teaches and has room to explore new areas of learning. Amanda Reilly and Nicole Bakaitis, also in eighth grade, brought different points to the table. Amanda and Nicole agreed they had ups and downs and realize the years to come won’t be easy. However, they know new opportunities contuine to pop up. Grace Scofield confirmed this.

Grace is a freshman. She started high school with a sense of enjoyment (as most freshman do).Though Grace is homeschooled, she still has a great group of friends, likes and dislikes her classes and has as many opportunities as anyone else. She simply has to depend on herself to take control and stay on track.

Only one year above Grace are sophomores Julia Felton, Josh Yancosek and Madeline Jackson. Julia began by discussing the difference between her freshman and sophomore years. Though it was a change, she knew what to expect. Julia was faced with new challenges, which she said prepared her for the future. Although Josh didn’t say much about this year because it just began, he explained what it was like going to a new school and not knowing anybody last year. He was nervous but quickly accepted. Josh became more involved as a freshman and though, to Josh, “school is school,” he continues to build relationships and participate. Though she remained in the same district, as Madeline approached high school, she had high expectations. She quickly realized not everything goes as expected. She said everyone does things they regret as a teenager, and also “things will get easier, harder, easier, then harder again.”

Junior Alex York shared similar views but also an entirely different perspective. Alex is a part of the ever-growing cyber school community where “everything changes constantly.” Over the years, Alex learned how to keep up with the evolving form of education. He also noted reactions change as cyber school becomes more accepted. Even though his school experience isn’t traditional, Alex still “doesn’t know how everything is going to turn out,” which was a common theme among students. Fellow junior Brittany Tender has a good idea of how she wants the next two years and beyond, for that matter, to go. After her sister left for college, Brittany began to realize there was only so much time left before she’d be leaving behind her teachers, classes and slowly maturing classmates. Brittany told the roundtable she was “inspired to get involved” because she wanted to “make the most out of the next few years.”

Seniors Julia Vilencia and myself wrapped up the conversation by agreeing that making the most out of high school is important because the time goes by fast. Julia said, “don’t let it fly by, enjoy it,” as she recalled being a seventh-grader and looking up to upperclassmen. Julia and I learned some stress is important, but stressing too much is not, and younger students should be themselves, be confident and learn what is important. As Julia and I look forward, we have to start over as freshman again next year. As Julia put it, we are realizing that “high school isn’t everything.”

The original intent for the roundtable was to see the differences between the Young Observers, but we realized we aren’t so different. Do we all have our own notable quirks and personalities? Absolutely. However, the reason we were all able to sit back and listen to one another is because we either understand what it is like to be in each other’s shoes or know we will be in that person’s shoes one day. It is this reason, I think, that we all show up for our scheduled Thursday meetings and find something we can share with one another.

Jenna Campbell is a senior at Avella Area Junior/Senior High School.