The majority of those in 12th grade can vouch that the last year of high school can be a busy one. We want to give a word of advice we wish we could have given to our junior selves.  To the class of 2024 for the upcoming school year.

Student Rocio Munoz says, “Thinking about senior year as a junior I feel a little overwhelmed. I’ve got a lot to do. I´d find it hard squeezing in things like community hours or prep for senior defense in my schedule because both things are important and take time. I also have rigorous cheerleading training on top of that.¨  For this not to be the case for 12th grade next year at Hawkins, here’s what other seniors and I think is important to make 12th grade go by smoothly. 

Firstly, 12th grade doesn’t have to sound stressful. Simple things to keep in mind now so as not to worry about later on: 

• are grades,
• attendance,
• community service hours,
• summer school, and/or
• credit recovery.

Attendance is important; I’m speaking from personal experience, too many absences and tardies can hinder your grades and it’s a hassle before graduation. Everyone always advises to get good grades, I was someone who didn’t care until the last minute, just on time to fix my mistakes. So really prioritize the report cards remaining from 11th and 12th grade. Give it your all because it’ll pay off when you apply to colleges.

Some might think they don’t want to go to college now, but everyone has to apply to college. So apply with your best grades. Juniors, when you get the time, please check with your counselor to see if you need to make up any A-G requirements from previous grades.  And if so, look into summer school or credit recovery. You’ll thank yourself; no one wants to deal with credit recovery their senior year.

I had to make up classes from my 9th and 10th grade that were held on Zoom where I spent all of 11th grade. I didn’t find out I needed to make up those classes until applying for the college I want to attend. So just make sure all of your A-G requirements are at a passing grade.

There’s also a service learning project that is supposed to be done in the 11th grade. If you don’t know about a service learning project you should ask your CCR teacher or academic counselor to get it out of the way. These are some requirements for graduation you can do for yourself now. Check Passport.LAUSD.net for your progress towards graduation.

Now for next year, seniors are have responsibilities like submitting college applications, FAFSA, gathering the last of required community service hours, getting cleared for graduation, etc.

¨Don’t procrastinate, get yourself together in the beginning of the semester, you don’t want to be stressed out in the end. And apply to all the private universities that you can, so get a good GPA, if that’s a goal of yours because there are some good scholarships,¨ is what valedictorian and ASB president , Fabiana Velasquez wants to guide juniors with.

Genesis M., who is in 11th says she’s looking forward to sports next year, especially cheer, and college admissions. She has some great colleges in mind and is looking to go into the medical field or in law and justice. 

She also commented, ¨I’m anxious about my grades because I know senior year is about college admissions. I don´t know if I´ll be too busy with college applications and forget all about my grades.¨

While students will receive assistance needed from staff, college applications won’t get in the way. All you have to do is prioritize your grades and make time; the sooner you commit to finishing the better.

There is tutoring available that’s really helpful by the way.

Lastly, if you would like to change a class, I would say take it up with the counselor as soon as possible because sometimes it can be too late and you´ll be stuck with a class and grade you didn’t want. If you have any questions, as Fabiana said ¨don’t procrastinate¨ on asking for help from your counselors, teachers and peers.”

Write to @advocatenews_hawkins on Instagram for any concerns; your questions could be helpful to others as well.

Hipervínculo a la historia en español