With a heavy heart, we are sad to inform you all that Sean has passed on. Not from life to death, but rather from high school to college. In this article, Sean reflects on his four years of high school: what he has learned, what there is still to learn, and who he must thank.
Welp, it’s coming to an end. As a freshman, I never thought I’d see the end of high school-- the months seemed to drag on and on as we trudged through Romeo and Juliet. Shoutout to Mr. Durrant by the way: teaching a freshman English class is not easy when you’re strictly a math teacher for upperclassmen. Anyhow, I’ve seemed to just now realize that my four years of high school are concluding just as quickly as they began. Many people in my position are wondering: Where do I go from here? While these prospects are worth pondering, I would like to take a quick moment to reflect on my time here and give thanks to those who have given me support throughout these years (even when I had a mullet).
First of all, now that I’ve already mentioned former math teachers, let’s give a huge round of applause to Mr. Shaun Gross. Math is literally the worst subject ever (you cannot debate me on this) and he took on the burden of being my math teacher for three years in a row. Through all of the incessant behavior I exuded and the times I would purposefully veer him off into tangents about his son at Oregon State University, I was still able to pull A’s in all of his classes. (Don’t fact-check me on this. I may have gotten a B at one point). If you’re reading this, Mr. Gross, I hope you’re having the time of your life as a retired teacher, and I’d love to catch up with you sometime.
Speaking about good grades, I’d like to thank my parents and former elementary/middle school teachers for elevating me and my abilities to succeed. When I was thrown into middle school, I had absolutely no clue what the grading system was going to be like or how to tackle it but, luckily, I was still pushed to succeed when I was young, which helped me maintain that turnout of grades in the future. Overall, I’m thankful that I knew the causes and effects of getting an F before it started mattering in high school.
Apart from academics, there are a lot of upperclassmen I owe for the advice they gave me. Remember kids: don’t hang out underneath the stairs! Spoiler alert: people make out there sometimes. Very roughly. And even if there isn’t anyone making out underneath the stairs, there are literally so many other places you can hang out around campus. It’s a decently sized school-- explore a little. Another word of wisdom: look through your course catalog! Talk to your counselors about electives being offered around campus-- it’s worth it in the long run. One regret I have from my four years of high school is that I didn’t take advantage of as many electives as I was offered. I’ll be honest, I have never had a class in the ProTech building, nor have I ever stepped foot in the Vocational Building. If I could go back in time and give myself more room in my schedule to take Culinary Arts or Painting/Drawing, you better believe I’d track down Doc Brown to do so.
More individuals I must thank for all that they have done for me are my theatre teachers and mentors throughout the years. From second grade to now, Tom Gebo has always been a line of support for me and always extends his hand to keep me involved with theatre within the community. Thank you, Mr. Gebo, for introducing me to the art of theatre and expanding my knowledge and love for it. Within my years of high school theatre, Justin Hauke and Julia Cuppy were my dedicated drama teachers and deserve a huge thanks for building up my repertoire and extending my skills past what I ever thought they’d be. Because of them, I still get asked, “You were the narrator in Puffs, right?” followed by “You were amazing!” I truly could not have accomplished anything without these people by my side, along with the many other impeccable theatre artists in our community that have given me extraordinary opportunities to share my talent and shine (e.g., Tim Coatney, Jael Hanson, Denise Baker, Ruby Painter).
Despite the large number of people I have already listed and individually thanked, there are still so many more teachers, coaches, and advisors that deserve recognition and thanks for supporting me. To Jenny Tyrrell, Julie Lehnhardt, Lucy Ireland-Lopez (who I gracious destroyed in the hit game: “Dot Slap”), Matt Wilson, Fawn Perry (Tyler Bronco), Tyler Cheek, and all of my irreplaceable and hilarious friends (you know who you are): I appreciate you all so SO much and give thanks to each and every one of you.
In the end, leaving this community of people that have shared these experiences with me and have gotten to know me in these past years is going to be the toughest thing I have ever done. There is so much more I feel that I can do or that I have to do before I leave for college, but when facing the true reality of it all, I can’t do everything (as much as I REALLY want to). There is a whole new book of opportunities waiting for me, and I think it’s time for me to open it up and explore the possibilities. To all of you that have done everything for me: thank you, from the bottom of my heart. To all of you that didn’t really do anything for me: You tried. I still appreciate you.
I hope to see you all again soon, but for now, this is Sean: signing off. <3
