I’m sure plenty of you are really nice people but in all honesty I don’t want to get to know you.

I am a 2012 senior. We will be known as the forgotten senior class.  You will not know Free State the way it was before you showed up. It was a pretty nice place, with things like 30 minute lunches, the snack shack and 9:35 a.m. late arrival. Everything is different now. Because someone on the school board had the bright idea that it was “necessary” to bring you guys up as soon as possible, despite a three year school working for as long as Lawrence has had a school district.

I should probably acknowledge that this isn’t your fault. As far as I know, you guys didn’t beg to come up to high school. It’s one of those ‘don’t shoot the messenger ’ situations. I don’t have anything against any freshmen on a personal level, but believe me when I say I can’t name a single person in my class I know who is excited about the changes happening caused by your presence.I feel as though my senior year has gone down in flames in the blink of an eye.

The administration is completely concerned with the freshmen. “We have to make this a smooth transition for them.” Well I hate to act like the older sibling of a new child, but what about us? Personally, I had no desire to return to school this year, despite it being my senior year. Maybe it’s just me, but I wish they would have made the transition more gradual instead of throwing all of these changes on us at once. I realize that a large amount of the changes (5th hour lunch, seven period days, and no snack shack) are because of the large amount of people now occupying the building.

There will be ways to handle this however. Its a lot of change to take it, but we will get accustomed to the larger classes, and crowded hallways. This transition would be smoother will a couple adjustments. We as students are given tickets for parking in the wrong spot, so why aren’t the freshmen and sophomore parents being held accountable for parking in the back of the school? A little less traffic will make our days better.

Also, be respectful. Hopefully this isn’t something I have to explain to people coming into high school but a little respect for upperclassmen goes a long way. We did it when we were sophomores too. We as seniors are done in a year and are trying to make the best of a situation that no one in the school wants to be in so try to remember that when you cut us in the lunch line.

Once the initial shock is over I’m sure there will be a level of coexistence that can be reached. There is a learning curve to high school in general. I’m not expecting every freshmen and sophomore to come in here and be as mature as an upperclassmen, because it takes a while to get adjusted to the demands of high school life.  I had looked forward a fun and exciting senior year, something that every other class at Free State was given. Now, I can’t wait to graduate.