“It goes by fast.”

You hear this before you even walk through the doors of Walt Whitman High School. You smile, nod your head, pretend like you understand and say, “Yeah, I can’t wait,” when in the back of your mind you can’t fathom how fast it really goes.

Walking into Whitman as a freshman can be intimidating. But buddy, we’ve all been there. We’ve all walked up the wrong staircase, gotten in trouble for not wearing an ID, and tried to find a lunch table to sit at on our first day of school. It’s all so new. It’s all so exciting. And you just don’t know how fast your run here goes.

As a senior, my best advice to all freshmen is to get involved. Don’t wait to join the action! Whitman offers so much that there is always a place for you. If you like computers, check out the robotics club. If you have a passion for writing, then take an advanced English course. Let your activities in and out of the classroom open up new opportunities for you.  You have the potential to succeed at Whitman – especially as a freshman. You have the chance to start anew and shape yourself into the person you want to be.

Of course, I’m not saying that everything happens overnight. It takes time and a lot of trial and error. But before you know it, you’ll be a senior and you’ll graduate. So let the next four years of your life be an adventure–one that you get to personally create. It’s like those “Choose Your Own Adventure” books we used to read when we were kids, where we picked what decisions the character made and how the book ended. These hallways are the empty pages of your book. Freshmen year is just “Part One”– make the most of it.