Students reflect on end-of-year traditions

Kaiya Lakes | The Chronicle

Mason High School (MHS) takes pride in their seniors and each year’s graduating class, and as the class of 2025 reaches the end of their high school career, they have found themselves immersed in a season of celebration. Checking off each AP test they take, planning their graduation parties, and attending events designed to make their final year memorable. 

Senior parking spots, senior sunrise and sunset, senior bike ride, senior awards, the military enlistment ceremony- MHS works hard to represent every facet of the graduating class and celebrate every success 

MHS senior Emma Zellner said she is grateful that these activities give her the chance to bond with her graduating class and celebrate their successes as one.

“A lot of [students] like me have been at Mason since kindergarten, so these events are us being able to get together and say ‘hey, we put in a lot of work,’ and the administration acknowledging us, saying ‘congratulations, you guys did it, you deserve to celebrate,” Zellner said.

Zellner said that the class of 2025 has such a large student population that over the years it has been difficult to dedicate time specifically to establishing relationships with her peers outside of her immediate friend group. 

“I really enjoy and appreciate all of these activities being planned and done for us, especially since I don’t have those moments in the past where I can look back on being able to bond with the other people in my grade,” Zellner said. 

Zellner said that as she progressed through high school, she and many other underclassmen always had the prospect of senior year and the corresponding activities to anticipate. She said that underclassmen witness these fun opportunities and begin to get excited by imagining their own class’ celebrations.

Zellner said the senior events are a breath of fresh air during the time most seniors know as the most stressful and daunting of their high school career.

“During all of the stressful college application months, it was really helpful to have these events to look forward to and to have that momentum to keep me going, and just to be able to see the mark that I’m leaving on this school while I keep going forward in my life.” 

It’s almost as if every organization inside of MHS comes together towards the end of the school year to provide special opportunities for seniors and contribute to celebrating the graduating students, each in their own way.

Photo Club offers free senior pictures, The Comet Zone puts out a line of Mason merch specifically designed for the graduating class, students can purchase graduation lawn signs or submit blurbs online for senior shout outs, and while seniors enjoy each and every one of these special perks, administration and a specific club in school is busy planning the next.

Student Government (StuGo) president Vivian Chang said that her motivation to plan and execute events for the seniors is the idea that as students get older they’ll forget all the classes and tests, but hopefully remember getting ready for senior homecoming, or watching the sunrise at the beginning of senior year with their friends. 

“These may be small moments in the scope of our four years at MHS, but they’re made to be unforgettable,” Chang said. 

Chang said that with the stress and tension of senior year it’s challenging to find time to be in the moment and relax. Chang and all of StuGo hope that times like senior sunrise help the class as a whole anticipate their future, reflect on their experiences, and be fully present.

As committed as StuGo is to giving seniors the best last experience at MHS they can have, so are the administrators who have been coordinating these events for years.

MHS Associate Principal of Student Life, Brandon Rompies coordinates most of the senior targeted activities, along with different groups of teachers and administration depending on the event.

Rompies said that he really feels as though these traditions really help foster MHS culture and uphold the values and spirit we have toward our graduating classes. 

“When we plan these activities, we’re trying to organize what we call a Mason moment. A moment that seniors can look back on happily, something that will last for life,” Rompies said.

Rompies said that his ultimate goal when putting together these senior functions is to create a space where each graduating class can feel honored, to try and showcase the success of reaching the end of an era at each event.

“What [everyone who plans seniors events] aims to create for the class of 2025 and every senior class is that opportunity to have fun together, reflect, have some gratitude about their school experience, and then look forward to what comes next.”