With only 28 school days left, seniors have mixed feelings about the few weeks before their last day of high school. I can testify to this. I am so excited to start my studies for my nursing career at UPenn. However, leaving high school behind is a bittersweet and major part of life. I cannot believe that 13 years of schooling has gone by this fast.

Besides the common feelings of a major life event, LVA is an IB school, which means most students take the IB exams in May. We have been preparing for these exams over the course of our junior and senior years. Even though testing in all classes gets a little bit overwhelming, I have no doubt that I will succeed, thanks to all of LVA’s amazing preparation.

Thinking about my perspective made me curious about what my classmates were feeling. I interviewed various peers to get their input. I was faced with a lot of mixed emotions, as I mentioned earlier.

I began my interviews with Sydney Liberto.

“I am really enthusiastic about the fact that we are finally graduating,” Sydney said. “It has been such a long haul, especially here at an IB school where the rigor is off the charts. I’m just beyond excited to finally start this new chapter of my life. I feel like IB has prepared me in such an amazing way, especially in terms of time management, so I’m excited to see where my future takes me. I’m very excited for graduation and everything to come.”

Kiara Padilla said, “It’s relieving but it’s also stressful in a sense. I like how everything’s beginning to wind down as we’re able to get our big projects like IAs out of the way, but knowing that something bigger lies ahead is also stressful to consider. But knowing that after all of our exams and final projects we’ll be done makes all of it worth it. It’s obviously a very stressful time right now, but it’s also the last months of our senior year, so I can’t help but want to make time go slower so we can enjoy all of our moments together. The IB experience is difficult but is definitely a memorable experience that has taught me very valuable things in life.”

Kaniel Afriyie told me he is relieved that classes will be over soon.

“For me personally, it was harder because I went two months without an English or science teacher, so catching up with other classes was stressful. Knowing that finals are coming up lets me know that the year is actually ending, which makes me happy, but it also reminds me that we’ll have to start college soon and leave the familiarity we had in high school behind.”

Lastly, Nathalie Vasquez said, “With the end of our senior year coming, there’s a lot of emotions that I’m going through. I’ve been going to LVA since kindergarten so it’s bittersweet to be leaving after all this time. It’s the only school I know and through all this time I’ve somewhat been surrounded by the same people so going out into the real world is an intimidating thing to face. Overall though, I am so excited to start this new chapter in my life and take all the things I’ve learned with me. Right now is a little stressful with the quarter ending and having to think about doing our exams all through May, but I’ve been staying optimistic with keeping in mind graduation and prom are coming soon and I’ll be able to create some lifelong memories with the people I spent so many years growing with.”

I am sad yet so excited to finish out what is left of my senior year of high school. I wish all the seniors out there good luck with completing the rest of the year. Make sure to get extra rest come exam time! We got this!