With graduation getting closer by the day, seniors can’t help but wonder: what’s next? As the end of the year approaches, many are getting ready to take the next step in their lives. However, each senior is vastly different, and different people plan to take varying paths with their lives.

When it comes to making decisions about the future, many seniors, such as Alicen Silva, may take inspiration from their favorite interests.

“I would love to go into the field of vocal performance,” Silva said. “Because choir and singing has really been my thing ever since I was in elementary school. And I’ve really been able to just grow immensely throughout high school with our program.”

Senior Cameron Linde was also inspired by their experiences and interests in high school.

“I want to go into law,” Linde said. “I don’t know exactly what area of law yet, but it just kind of piqued my interest when I did debate.”

For others, however, sometimes money is a deciding factor in one’s future. Such is the case for senior Tyler Anderson.

“[I want to go into] pharmacy,” Anderson said. “It’s a good medical field, has good money, and as well as that, it allows me to help people while not having to go through the many-year process of med school.”

A combination of both factors takes place for senior Noah Hastings.

“I’m hoping to go into theatre,” Hastings said. “I’m double majoring in business and marketing, so that I can feed myself while I try and do that.”

When it comes to this important new chapter in life, it’s important to try and make some goals, both short-term and long-term.

“One of my long-term goals is to make some good money to set myself up for success,” Silva said. “But one of my more immediate goals is to just have fun with my last summer of being a kid, and doing shows, just doing stuff that makes me happy while I can before I have to officially adult.”

Many seniors commonly have conflicting feelings about their respective futures.

“[I’m] somewhat prepared- not 100%, but I think I’ll be ready at some point,” Linde said. “It’s just [that] there’s a lot of complexities in my future. And so, it’ll just take time to get through them.”

Some seniors, like Matt Gray, have a lot more confidence in their future.

“I feel prepared because my mom, my dad, and [the] people around me prepared me really well to be able to utilize the gifts they’ve taught me,” Gray said. “The lessons they’ve taught me, throughout my whole life, they’ve built me up to be able to not be nervous in such situations.”

Graduating from high school means getting to leave things behind, which is exciting for some.

“If I had to say anything [to leave behind], it would be the parking lot,” Anderson said. “South’s parking lot has a lot of problems.”

However, the memories from school carry a bittersweet feeling as the end nears. Senior Maddox Dorland holds fond memories of community.

“I’ll definitely miss my forensics teacher, Ms. Ball. Amazing teacher overall,” Dorland said. “All the teachers that I’ve met along my journey at South, they’ve all been so kind to me. And then, I’ll also miss all my friends who are going off to different colleges.”

High school is an opportunity to form connections and try new things, and the memories that come with that is a common factor to miss among graduating seniors.

“I think my favorite thing about high school is the opportunities. You spend four years and you can do whatever you want- for better or worse,” Hastings said. “There’s a lot of stuff that I wish I’d done that I didn’t. But I think it’s really neat that in high school, you have the opportunity to do so many different things.”