From freshmen beginning high school to seniors preparing to graduate, as well as teachers who have been here for years, individuals at LSE are at different stages in their life. To showcase this, students and staff each chose one word that describes their year so far. This one word acts as a snapshot of how students and staff define a whole year in just one short word.
Amorita Payne – “Hectic”
Freshman Amorita Payne describes her year as hectic. Coming into high school, there have been so many new things to do. “Speech and debate, and different classes… it’s been really hectic.” In addition, freshman year is a big jump from eighth grade to a whole new school with harder classes and more opportunities.
Sawyer Hiatt – “Phantasmagoria”
Freshman Sawyer Hiatt used the word phantasmagoria to illustrate her year. The definition of phantasmagoria is a constant changing sequence of real or imaginary images, like those seen in a dream. Hiatt describes it as what one would see in a stop motion, but all of the images are different. “Going into high school as a freshman is just a really different experience,” Hiatt said. “I just feel like this year went by so fast, and it was a lot to take in all at once.” In addition, she described all of the different things that were happening and her different experiences as “surreal”.
Tina Beard – “Consistent”
Junior Tina Beard describes her year with the word consistent. Overall, her year was “full of ups and downs, but consistent overall,” Beard said. She is involved in many things, including HOSA, FBLA and DECA. In addition, she also participated in National History Day, founded Math Club and was a part of National Art Society. “It’s all consistently busy,” Beard said. Furthermore, “learning how to figure out things in the specific problem you’re working through and then applying that skill set to the other things that you do” gives consistency throughout all of the activities she is involved in.
Miriam Peters – “Jubilant”
Senior Miriam Peters would use the word jubilant to represent her year. Jubilant is the feeling of great happiness, especially because of success. “It hasn’t been an awesome year or anything, but I’m just trying to think positively about the future,” Peters said. As a senior, there is so much for her to look forward to. “I’m really excited [to] move forward, and I’ve been determined to not get senioritis,” she said.
Brittany Yardley – “Unanticipated”
Math teacher Brittany Yardley describes her year with the word unanticipated. “From a teacher perspective, when you approach the year, you anticipate mistakes your students are going to make [and] how certain classes are going to be based on size or based on combination of students,” Yardley said. She did these things, however, the year turned out to be nothing like what she expected. “I was pleasantly surprised,” Yardley said. Last year, she had taught Diff Advanced Algebra, and had the opportunity to move up with them to Pre-Calculus this year. From those students she had worked with before, she knew what to expect. However, she didn’t know what to expect of the new students who she hadn’t met before. In the end, the result was “the best combination of people and so many new cool relationships with them,” Yardley said. In addition, from a professional standpoint, she did not anticipate that this year would be her last year at Southeast. “That has been an unanticipated challenge for this year,” she added.
