Looking to the past for the future – Staff Editorial

With the 2024 school year coming to an end, the halls are buzzing with excitement and nostalgia. This year has been filled with unique memorable moments, challenges and achievements. Yet, one thing remains constant: change.

This year, we will bid farewell to many familiar faces; not only the graduating class of 2024, but our principal too. Bobby Dodd’s guidance and leadership will forever leave a mark on our school. Our new principal, whoever they may be, will be faced with the impossible task of both living up to and upholding Dodd’s legacy, while also setting precedents of their own to better our school.

Without a doubt, the past students and staff of MHS have defined the halls of our school. Between Dodd’s support of the Hope Squad program and the constant leadership of this year’s graduating seniors, it is undeniable that they will be missed. It’s always hard to see our friends and mentors leave, and for the rising seniors, it feels scarier than ever to step into the class of 2024’s shoes. But amidst these goodbyes, we must look forward with hope and anticipation. 

The class of 2028 will soon join the high school, bringing with them fresh perspectives, talents and dreams. Current freshmen, sophomores and juniors will step into the roles of those that they have previously looked up to. They will have the opportunity to step into the leadership roles they have always wanted, create and leave the legacies they have hoped to leave and fulfill the dreams they have always had.

As some of the influential figures that have defined the last few years of our lives depart for bigger and better things, it is up to us to create our own legacies. Our own reason that we will be missed.

While we will never be exactly the same as the class or principal before us, there are always ways to keep improving. While it might be scary being the new face of the school or the new senior class, these opportunities push us toward the future and open the door to continued growth. It is not the goal to outdo or replicate the achievements of those who have come before us, but rather to continue the progress they have made.

As the incoming senior class prepares to enter the final stage of their high school career, we face the absence of our peers that we used to look up to. Whether it be through our classes, sports or extracurriculars, our 2024 seniors have given us an exciting foundation for the incoming school year.

It is easy to become overwhelmed, as finals and graduation approach rapidly, and the thought of a new school year may cloud the summer, but it is important to encourage one another to look to our future. Each student at MHS has the opportunity to grow and learn from one another, especially amidst change.

In the newsroom, our advisor always encourages us to “leave it better than you found it,” and whether that is cleaning up your lunch table, starting a new club, or fighting for large-scale change, this mantra seems to apply far outside the classrooms of MHS.

Change can be bittersweet; marking the end of one chapter, but the beginning of another. Yes, the seniors are leaving soon, but soon the halls will be repopulated, as we all continue on, embarking on our own journeys.