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Two members of the graduating class of 2023 at Watauga High School, Trey Thompson and Lucy Walker, sat down to recap their freshman years and share some advice for upcoming Watauga graduates. The highlights are listed below.
Trey Thompson
Trey Thompson
Trey Thompson is a student at Davidson College who is majoring in Film and Media Studies, minoring in Communications, is a member of the football team, and is a Davidson Athletics Media Intern.
Lucy Walker
Lucy Walker
Lucy Walker attends the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and is majoring in Social Work with a minor in Theatre. She is a member of the university's "Sunset Club" and an upcoming tour guide.
"Going to college is a transition. A good transition, a hard transition. For every single person I know. I've never heard a person say that they have not struggled, and if they are, they're most definitely lying."
"Because we went to K-12 schools, we were with the same people from age 4 or 5. I feel like the hardest thing for me was branching out. You just can't go in expecting to immediately have close friends. You meet different people, but your friends from orientation might not be your friends later in the year, and that's okay. You're all figuring out who you are and who you want to be and who you want to spend your time with."
"Finding those core friends is most definitely the hardest part. Boone is like an island. The culture from off the mountain is just so different from what we're accustomed to. We're such a small town that if anything crazy happens, everyone would know about it, so it's a big adjustment."
"There is such a difference in judgment in college. You can go and eat by yourself and no one is going to think, 'oh, that person sitting alone; they have no friends.' Their friends could have class or be doing something. I've gone to the dining hall multiple times by myself. No one's going to be judging you."
"It is okay to drop classes. You have two weeks to do it. I got into my film class and we already had a quiz on the third day of class. Drop. 'Nope, not doing it.'"
"I feel like you just have to embrace the homesickness. You have that freedom to go and do whatever you want, which is different than being at home. But you can also feel so lonely. I would just really embrace going out and meeting people and doing the most you can. Go to those school events, go to the club fairs, do whatever you can to meet people and get out there more."
"Go to office hours and try to build a relationship with the professor because the professor knows that you're human just as much as anybody else. There's like a big stereotype that like college professors are scary and mean and they don't care about you, but they're really understanding as long as you have a relationship."
"Don't be afraid to email your teachers. I know that that seems scary along with the fact that some of your classes are like 200 people, but make sure you make yourself known that teacher. They'll be so thankful that you care and you want to make a relationship with them."
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