About the Class of 2022

After 4 long years, dealing with the construction of the high school and the Covid-19 pandemic, the senior class of 2022 have just about reached the end of their high school experience. These students are ready to take the next step out of the limbo between childhood and adulthood. “It's very surreal,” Dominic Garrison stated, “It's definitely taking a mental toll. It feels hard and stressful but nice at the same time. It feels like gaining control of your own life.”

“There’s a lot of pressure when it comes to figuring out your future,” Trinity Foster stated when asked what senior life was like. Plenty of Foster’s classmates agree with Alan Buell who added, “It's pretty simple, you know what you're going to do, you know the planning you're going to have to do and the goals you have to reach. It's a struggle but a necessary struggle.” Other students like Asher Vang commented, “It’s fun but I feel old,” and Cedar Bonfoey said, “The only real benefit is that I can leave school during lunch,” a privilege for the seniors and the seniors alone.

“A lot of ups and downs, but good because of the people I’m surrounded by,” Andrew Buell had to say regarding the question about his high school experience as a whole. Andrew’s classmate, Billy Vue, stated that it “wasn’t bad, freshman year was easy, but junior year was the hardest year because of the importance of finals.” Samantha Castellanos felt that she had an “overall good experience” but found that her years at Hayfork high school were often stressful whereas Andy Yang felt he “was successful through high school,” and that he made “companions.”

When summer comes around, the senior class will be expected to have some form of clue of what they want for their futures jobs, education, or just plans in general regarding their lives and aspirations. “I plan on going to Oklahoma state,” Haumsiab Xiong stated, “I want to major in animal science to become a veterinarian.” Cheyenne Xiong plans to become an international social worker, Chimua Moua wants to join the US Navy, and Castellanos plans on “going to college for dentistry and becoming an orthodontist.” “I plan to go to college to learn how to develop websites and make my own code,” Bonfoey decided. “I want to go into the animation industry,” Alan Buell expressed, “I want to create content for people to enjoy.”

The world functions differently than life as a high schooler and skills are needed to navigate that life and become full-fledged adults. When asked what skills were valued Hayden Carini answered, “Understanding and meeting deadlines and being on time.” Vue’s response to this question differed, saying “Everything we learned in economics class. It taught us the basics of money and the economy as a whole and a few other skills too.” Jacalyn Carson added, “Self-motivation and determination have been skills I learned and valued.” “I value everything we learned during financial literacy because it helps with managing money,” Alexis Smith shared, “And senior seminar because it teaches you how to be on your own.”

The seniors were then asked what they value about Hayfork High and what they would’ve wanted it to offer. “I appreciate the education and the dances we have,” said Angelina Yang. There are a lot of students who value “the closeness of the school” or the friendships gained. Andy Yang commented, “I like how everyone gets to know each other, and how supportive the teachers are.” Alan Buell had said something similar to this, saying, “I like how small the school is so that we can get to know each other and support one another.”

Preparing for senior year is very important, so the seniors had some advice to give upcoming classes: “Do your work and do it on time, set goals even if they’re small,” Alyssa DeMoe said as advice to future graduates. “Make sure you get a lot of sleep,” Cheyenne added, “Don’t procrastinate, and try to make as many scholarships as you can.” Foster said, “Make sure to enjoy your high school experience but try your hardest in school.” There was plenty of advice given by the 2022 class. “Study hard,” said Moua, “it’s okay to ask for help,” from Haumsiab Xiong, “don’t cheat through your homework,” added James Morrison.

We give thanks to the graduating class of 2022 for allowing us the time to interview them. This is a class that has a lot to offer and they are sure to be successful in the future.

RETRACTION MARCH 4, 2022: A previous quote from Angelina Yang was misquoted and removed.