Returning students

More than anytime of year, we get to see “old friends” at this time of year as graduates filter through SKHS just before the Thanksgiving and Holiday breaks. It’s a great time of year for the adults in the building as we get to hear first hand about the experiences and changing perspectives of young adults, many of whom last year were focused on continuing "what worked" in their high school experience rather than searching for new ones. To a person they now feel far removed from high school; they talk about college, work and travel. The returning young adults are impacted most by those experiences which have taken them outside of their comfort zone; working as an Americorps volunteer, traveling to South Africa, going to a college in a different part of the country, competing in a sport at the college level or working a 40 hour a week job. Sometimes the challenges are academic in nature; someone confronting the realization that a specific career path is not what she really wants to do or discovering that even though he never had thought about it before, he loves the vibe of the drama department. In many cases, the failures or having to make tough choices are where the growth occurs. Coming back home can provide recent graduates perspective, having moved out of what had been their reality only four months ago. While we often hear from kids that they feel ahead of the game in many of their introductory classes at the college level, I know that we can provide more opportunities to take kids out of their comfort zone to confront their assumptions and beliefs both in and out of the classroom while they are at SKHS. We are making some progress in this area: there is an opportunity right now for students to organize a trip to Morocco a year from now, and a fledgling school-to-career program will provide some of our students an opportunity to intern at local businesses during second semester. Beyond the academic challenges, I hope we can provide other authentic experiences and opportunities for our students so they can gain additional perspective, like the ones we hear about when we chat with our visiting alumnae.