![Walking through the tunnel created by the cheerleaders and Celebrities, senior Frances Tran smiles as the soccer team is sent off during DEN for their playoff game against Rouse tonight. Tran said the wins against Smithson Valley and Alamo Heights gave the team a morale boost to take on the Raiders tonight. “I know we were not 100% confident in those games,” Tran said. “But, Rouse is a big opponent for sure. We’re definitely going into tonight with a lot of morale [because of the previous wins].”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/frances-tran.jpg)
![Holding a bucket of materials in one hand and a roll of tape in another, anatomy and biology teacher Tyler Terry prepares for a lab. Terry said his proudest moments are when his students are happy to see him. “When I take my wife to a football game or something and a bunch of students want to say hi to me or they like to smile and wave and it just makes me feel good that the students are really kind and supportive of me,” Terry said. “[I’m also] proud when I see students perform really well in their extracurriculars because I can see how hard they’re working in my classes, [so] when I see that they’re also working so hard in other things. Like they’re winning band competitions or they’re getting awards for their theater productions, or I see them put on their choir shows, that’s like, wow, you guys are incredible.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Rags-6.png)
![Catching a ball, junior Alivia Robinson plays at the Cedar Park vs Glenn game. Having played since she was 5 years old, she is dedicated to softball and has committed to UTPB for softball. “When I got my offer it took me a very long time to decide where,” Robinson said. “Softball has always been my dream for college, and UTPB is my fit. When [I committed] I knew I was going to be loved and supported.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Lilly-Adams-3.13aliviaedit-901.jpg)
![Holding her dog, Nova, senior Ariana Balakrishnan poses for her senior pictures while Nova wears a bandana with her college decision. Balakrishnan applied to 18 colleges in total, but she decided on Columbia in the end. “Right before I clicked the button to open Columbia’s letter, I literally looked at the camera and go ‘This is just gonna really suck because I wanted it so bad,’ and I clicked it and all of a sudden you hear trumpets,” Balakrishnan said. “There’s a video that plays when you open it and I actually didn’t watch the video, I just watched the screen go black, because every day of December before ED [Early Decision] I would go on YouTube and watch the acceptance video to manifest it, so immediately when the screen went black, I started screaming and jumping up and down. And my parents in the video are like ‘What are you doing, where’s the letter,’ and I was just screaming ‘I got in, I got in.” I just started crying, and it just felt like everything in the world came together.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/ariana-2-300x217.jpg)
I shouldn’t be writing a senior column. I fill in my grade as 11 on every form and I get no privileges like the class of 2009 does, and yet come June 5 I will forever be done with compulsory school. Due to a rather unconventional high school experience, I find myself graduating a year early.
I graduated from an itsy-bisty middle school where a grade with more than twenty kids would be stretching its limits. I was then thrown into St. Michael’s Catholic Shark pit, where freshmen are actually hazed and mass meant I had to wear a dress to school once a week. I quickly learned the St. Mike’s was not the right environment for me.
Cedar Park was a monstrous change, suddenly I was going to school with over 2000 students and there were endless opportunities (such as newspaper) that I had never dreamt of at private school. My first Pep Rally at CPHS was the first time I really felt like I was in high school. Cedar Park was a nice step up from the life of Catholic School, but I guess I just not a big fan of high school. At the last possible minute I could make the decision, I told my counselor I wanted to graduate early.
Right now, I am in the midst of the only time high school has ever been challenging for me. Along with my junior classes, I have crammed in any credits I was required to complete for my senior year. Every Monday and Wednesday I spend three hours with a very uniquely horrendous ACC professor, and I log in daily to NOVANET for my English 4
All in all, high school has taught me to adapt. From 100 kids, to 400 kids, and finally 2400 kids, I can only hope I have been prepared for college with 25,000 adults.
