Author: Pete Koutoulas • First Posted: Friday, September 04, 2009

The triumphant emergence from Rupp Arena will be here before they know it. (Photo: File photo / Tammy L. Lane)

Teacher Wisdom: This week, we've shared advice for students at milestone steps in their education: kindergarten, sixth grade, ninth grade and senior year. 

By Karen Gill, physics teacher at Henry Clay High School and Kentucky’s 2009 Teacher of the Year

The world of high school that you struggled so long to understand, that you worked so hard to fit into, is going to be ending for you soon. It will happen very suddenly – you will think you are ready; you will think you are more than ready. But then suddenly, one day at the end of May (maybe the beginning of June), high school will just be … over.

You will never again spend your days surrounded by so many people your own age, so many people who shared your childhood. You will never again have so many people around you who are incredibly willing, sometimes even to the point of begging, to help you learn. You have one more year of high school: It is filled with opportunity. Don’t wish it away, and don’t waste it!

You need to become the best, most caring, most knowledgeable, most useful person that you possibly can. The closer you can come to the best version of yourself, the better your life, and the lives of those around you, will be.

In order to become that “best person,” you have to continually challenge yourself. You have to find the courage to do things and learn things that are new. Take the hardest classes you can, join new clubs, try out for a team, play intramurals, do volunteer work. Learn to push through the uneasiness; be brave.

Don’t look at high school as an obstacle – look at it as an opportunity to learn and grow, to become someone of whom you can be proud.

Try to keep your life balanced. As a high school senior, you have schoolwork, college planning, social activities, family obligations and other outside activities – all demanding your time. You want to continually learn and challenge yourself, but you don’t want to get so bogged down that you burn out.

Organizing your time and organizing your schoolwork can help keep your stress down and help you enjoy your life, enjoy your friends and enjoy your senior year.