Seeing now that I have just a couple weeks left of high school, it is hard to believe that my four years here are already up. I remember my first day of freshman year, when I got on the bus at the end of the day, the thought of spending four years at HHS felt like an eternity. It turned out to be the quickest eternity of all time. Although it went by fast (especially senior year) there are a lot of things that I feel like I can look back on and talk about and give advice on.

I want to start off with some of my top memories. My lunch tables freshman and sophomore year were absolutely great. I honestly cannot think of a day where I was not laughing. I made a lot of friends and got tighter with a few people through these tables. The football games were phenomenal too. The best ones were my sophomore year when Hammonton won the state championship, the homecoming game this year when we had a come from behind win, and the pink out this year when I got to be the mascot. The Homecomings, Hops, and Proms were all fun too. Another solid memory was a Halloween party that I went to this year when I dressed up like the Pope, everyone thought it was funny. Finally, Prom weekend this year was great too and the party I went to was another memory-maker.

Now onto my advice.

As far as academics go, all I can say is just do your work. If I’m being honest half of passing a class is just doing the work, regardless if you know the material. I’ve had a lot of friends who stress at the end of each marking period because they have a lot of things due and are failing, just get done what you have to get done around when it’s assigned and you’ll be worry free. I would also say to give taking an Honors or AP class a try if you haven’t, especially if it’s a subject that interests you. You can also get college credits for getting a good score on an AP exam (rules vary at each college). Finally, I would recommend taking it easier if you’re able to senior year. I took all of my AP classes my junior year and got them out of the way when I could (colleges also look at your junior year the most). You’re going to be checking out senior year anyway and colleges don’t look at it too much, so relax and enjoy it and take some of the workload off.

When it comes to social stuff I would say that if there is ever an event or party, go to it if you can (but stay out of trouble). Like I mentioned I have some fun memories from a few parties that I have gone to during high school, especially this year. Just make sure that the party’s open invite or that you’re invited, you won’t want to show up unwelcomed because getting kicked out is embarrassing (I’ve seen it happen before). Make plans with your friends when you can, but don’t go out too often because you’ll wish you would have spent more time with your family when you are about to go to college. I definitely wish that I had gone out more with friends or gone to more parties through high school, so my motto is “go if you can.”  Just stay out of trouble. With school events, I recommend going to things like homecoming, prom, football games, etc. You make a lot of memories with these things too.

I also recommend playing a sport or two. They are a fun thing to get involved in and the friends and memories that you make through them will be special.

One of the biggest things that I can give advice on is this: enjoy your senior year and don’t wish it away. Yes, you will be fed up with the work, and yes you will hit a wall after Christmas Break and just want to be done, but please just enjoy it. When you get to the point that I’m at now, you will look back and be happy that you enjoyed senior year if you take my advice. I wished a lot of my senior year away and I regret it now, so don’t do what I did. There is nothing wrong with being excited about graduating and going to the next step in life, but stop and enjoy the present when you can, because when it’s over, it’s over.

Oh and by the way park towards the back of the student lot. Try keeping it to the right if you can so that you can pull up and around and avoid the lines in each row at the end of the day.

The past four years of my life went by fast, and like I said before I can’t believe that my time at HHS is about to come to a close. I’ve had a lot of ups and downs during my career at HHS, but I am ultimately grateful for my time here. I’m thankful for all of the memories I’ve made and the people that I was able to make them with. No longer going to HHS every day will be strange for me come the fall, and I may even miss it a little. However, it doesn’t nearly compare to how much I will miss all of my friends and many of the staff members. They were truly the ones who made high school something that I will never forget, and I am deeply thankful for the role that they have played in my life.