In freshman year, we entered a fresh phase of teenage life. Armed with a natural attitude for exploration, and a robust idealism that powered us through the most turbulent tides, we saw middle school as a mere speck in the rearview mirror. It was official. We were high schoolers.

For some, the seriousness of high school resounded immediately. Others stammered a bit at first. But eventually, with only camaraderie to lessen the impact, stress would become a regular ingredient in all of our daily lives.

As the days and months passed, we would also be acquainted with a once-alien concept, a universal term too often associated with student paralysis. The F-word.

Future. This one word, monotonous it may seem, encapsulates the great irony of high school. Simply put, we wait for a moment we dread. Senior Jacob Barsher says, “I’ve been waiting all this time to graduate from high school. Now the moment is here. And I must admit I’m a bit anxious.”

And the F-word paints a bridge in all of our reveries. Surrounding the bridge is a lagoon. It is a nauseating bridge, one that propels the most ambitious academic pursuits. The walkway construction, while flagrantly suspect, is the shorter portion of our concerns. In fact, it is where the bridge leads that drives most high school seniors berzerk. As sophomores and juniors, we were exposed to the two certainties that expound endeavor. The destination is uncertain. The path in between is inevitable.

Junior Marcus Tang says, “Now that I’m almost finished with junior year, my parents and I are discussing college more and more. I just hope to get into a college I like. But I know that the college I go to won’t define me as a person. So, knowing this, I’m not too worried about where my path takes me.”

In senior year, we ventured on, and the aching journey that eluded us for three years had finally arrived. The months passed by. Slowly. But, in hindsight, not so slowly.

September served as acclimation. October, quite benevolently, offered catch-up time. November nestled us into an illusion of productivity, which did require some time to mitigate. And December drove us insane.

The process, I’m sure, varied largely from person to person. Perhaps the months don’t synchronize precisely with the emotions as they did for me. But, without a doubt, the tumultuous progression hummed regardless.

Occasionally, seniors may have entered a phase of incessant nervous breakdown. Even freshman could feel the burgeoning trepidation of upperclassman trickling down. Surely, those with older siblings can certify these claims.

But enough with this rant.

Issaquah High School seniors have a lot to say about their own experiences. It was a pleasure to record their reflection.

Senior Jun Ahn says, “So I didn’t really think much about college until about junior year. In freshman and sophomore year, I was shooting for good grades and doing clubs that I liked, but I wasn’t one that worked towards a college resume right from the beginning. But in junior year, I really started to learn information about colleges and that is when I began to really prepare. Sometimes I wish I had more information earlier.”

Senior Peter Orfanos says, “Writing the essays is definitely the most grueling component of the college application process. You have to write a ton of supplemental essays that aren’t a lot of fun. It’s really important to plan ahead and organize a schedule. Otherwise, it’s pretty easy to get overwhelmed with all the deadlines approaching.”

With high school graduation fast approaching, many find themselves in a nostalgic trance (myself included). I vividly recall my freshman mind. Then, virtually clueless about the college chase, I stumbled upon critical junctures of self-development, both pleasant and painful.

I experienced the ramifications of procrastination, many, many times. What’s more, I learned to pay close attention to the intriguing insights my peers expressed. I also realized that no matter how much one compensates for lost sleep on weekends, a one-week break once in awhile is a necessary antidote for agitation.

These epiphanies, of sincere education through trial, continued for four years, alongside my dear classmates and teachers. And for that I will always be grateful.

High school, while serving as a bridge to college in part, is not merely so. It is also a freshwater lagoon, one of crisp and invigorating experiences that thrust us to a stronger sense of real value. It is a blossoming bastion of not only rigorous academics, or social drama. There are even more meaningful modes of education.

So let us take this bridge. With wonder, and no haste. Let us walk slowly but hopefully, equipped with an unwavering confidence in the path we have constructed for ourselves. Surrounding the bridge is a lagoon. And no matter how far you travel away from the bridge, never forget this lagoon.