As the school year comes to a close, The Cardinal Times asked seniors for their best advice for underclassmen.

“Don’t orchestrate your schedule and extracurriculars based off of what you think colleges will want,” said Allison Khalil. “Find out what you’re passionate about and dive into it in a big way. Not only will it make you happier and surround you with people who share the same interests, but colleges will like it too.”

“Make sure to take time for yourself so you’re not overworked,” said Julian Raaf, “but also make sure to balance those break times with finishing work.”

“Talk to your teachers and form relationships!” Nicole Prall said. “It is helpful to be able to communicate with your teachers!” 

“Make good connections with your teachers! You will appreciate having a strong support system, especially if college is in your plans,” said Ingrid Steen-Adams

Braden Arbuthnot got straight to the point, telling students to “attend class and don’t do full IB.”

Aila Mengden-Koon and Luke Fettkether advocated for caffeine.  

“Caffeine is your friend. Especially around exams. Doesn’t matter how you get it in your system, but get it in there often,” said Mengden-Koon. 

 Fettkether agreed, adding that students should “space out [their] caffeine intake so that it really hits when [they] need it, for an essay that never got done or a big test the next day.”

“Sleep is so important even if you have homework that isn’t done,” said Eden Gervais. “Assignments can be done late and it is so much easier to not fall behind when you are sleeping nine hours a night at a semi-regular time because you’ll have full brain capacity.”

Maddox Alto and Kennedy Farley emphasize the virtue of kindness. 

“Treat people nicely. It goes such a long way and you’ll learn quickly that you will gain many new opportunities from it,” said Alto.  

Farley said that “empathy goes a long way, you really don’t know what someone might be going through so it’s best to just be kind!”