By Alexia Torres Camino

Date: Monday, May 16, 2022

_{^{Me and my friends hanging out after school at Eastridge mall celebrating break (photo credit: Rogelie Faye Jinon)}}

SAN JOSE, CALIF. — On Thursday, June 2, 2022 seniors will be graduating at Silver Creek’s football stadium. As the school year ends, I reflect on some of my top memories that I had throughout my four years of high school.

1. Freshmen Year 

Freshman year was a tough start for my high school career, it was truly a big transition from middle school to high school. The big campus and the even bigger requirements to graduate was really overwhelming. In general, just the different environment and new challenges I had to take on made me doubtful if I was able to succeed .

2. Friends 

Throughout the years before and till now I have had to let many friends go who I had associated with for many years. We branched out and became different people but that’s life. Some friends come and go. I’m grateful for the friends who have stuck with me for my four years of high school, and the new ones I’ve made during it.

3. After School Hangouts  

Some of my favorite memories come from hanging out with my friends after school. Some of our favorite hangout spots are Red Robin, Starbucks, Eastridge Mall, Pho Tau Bay and Icicles. Throughout high school  my friends and I tried to go out after school especially on Fridays, special schedules, and our minimum days. 

4. Meeting new people 

With every class that I have taken I’ve made new aquantinances and even new friends. High School helped me to become more social and meet and interact with new people. Some who I am still very good friends with and become very close with.

5. Classes 

Throughout my four years of high school I’ve had several good teachers and favorite classrooms. I remember freshman year in Biology my teacher would let me and my friends get boba and vending machine snacks, it was something we did a lot. Having Journalism class this year brought a lot of good memories as well, venturing through  this new elective and learning new techniques.

6. Clubs 

Freshman year throughout senior year, I joined various clubs. They transmit the idea of team-building, communication, and individual responsibility skills. One time in sophomore year, my friend and I went to an event and it was a  fun  potato sack race. I ended up winning, but it was just hilarious because we looked so funny participating  and overall fun.

7. Online Junior year

My whole junior year was online, every class I took was on Zoom. Most of my teachers allowed us to keep our camera off, but it was so weird doing everything online; homework, classes, and meetings. No communication with classmates, yet a good thing that I got out of it was self-responsibility. I became more responsible throughout this year because it was up to us to do most of the teaching for ourselves, we really didn’t have the teacher in person to elaborate much about it. Even though there were many downsides of it, there were also positive things that came with it like growing closer to friends, family, and better grades.

8. Career Searching 

I honestly didn’t really start looking for what I wanted to do in life till the end of sophomore year. It was pretty late, but I had decided I was going to try-out the medical assisting course in my junior year. Unfortunately, the pandemic hit and the SVCTE course had to be online. And to be honest,  it was very hard trying to figure everything out, but it gave me the idea of what I wanted to do. And that was being in the medical field. I enjoy helping others and by this job I can help patients feel better.

9. College 

I had barely decided what I was going to do with my life and then quickly came senior year. I didn’t know exactly what college I wanted to attend, but I knew I had to be quick about it. It was very stressful looking into all the possible options for college, how to save money, and thinking “does the college fulfill my requirements for my career?” There were a lot of things to consider. I decided the best option for me was to start off with two years of community college and then transfer to a nearby university. It was fun to research and plan about my future with my closest friends and figure out what to do next after graduation.

10. Senior year 

With now Senior year coming to an end, it’s sad to reflect on the years spent here at Silver Creek, but exciting to think about the upcoming events of the nearby future and what we will become. I look forward to graduation on June 2nd and capturing tons of pictures with all my friends and family. I will take in the last weeks of school and enjoy it all that I can with my friends to celebrate the closure of this chapter in our lives.