THE ECHO

By Lauren Klein // Managing Editor

I was nominated by a teacher to be a leader for Senior Kickback. I still don’t know who nominated me and honestly, I was not excited to be nominated when I found out.

I didn’t want to stand up in front of my fellow seniors and act excited or overjoyed to be here. Especially at 9 a.m. in the morning.

I filled out the form and said that I maybe could do it, but I had a possible conflict. I couldn’t go to the meeting the day before either way. But they assigned me to a group anyways. I was put as a senior leader with one of my best friends.

The senior leaders showed up at 8 a.m. ready to go. Keith Hawkins, who spoke at Freshman Orientation, has been speaking at senior kickback for 14 years. Hawkins spoke to us not just explaining the day but encouraging us to have fun and let loose for our senior year.

I was still hesitant, but I did it. I bought food, I dressed up and put on a whole persona of this excited person to hype people up like Hawkins said. I let loose and promised myself that I would still work hard to hype up everyone.

The senior leaders formed a hype circle in the entrance to the auditorium and cheered all the seniors as they ran through the hallway. I felt out of place and like an annoying person. #FakeItTillYouMakeIt every day.

After we sat down, Hawkins spoke about how important it is to be nice to everyone, and how we need to accept reality and grow up. Hawkins got personal, talking about his past. He explained how even though we look like we are all fine, students can be struggling mentally and even in their home life. He even warned that harsh home life and hate can spread outside of home and into other parts of your life.

It was a harsh realization for all of us to hear that these people we were sitting around could really be struggling outside of school. It was hard to realize that the people around me could be putting on masks, covering their pain and trauma. Hawkins tied this into senior year warning us that this is probably the last time our entire senior class would be sitting together. As someone who, honestly, is not excited to graduate, it was really hard to hear. He encouraged us to stand up and go find people we know and just thank them for everything, or mend relationships.

I was already sitting next to my closest friends and stood up and explained to them that even after all these years in school with them, through all the drama, and all the change, I loved them and cared for them. I got a little emotional thinking about how in a year we all would be spread out across the Midwest living our dreams. I also went and found friends I made sitting next to them in classes and told them how much I appreciated them. During this, Senior Kickback then turned into a bit of an impromptu karaoke session, with kids on the stage singing Michael Jackson before lunch.

After lunch, we got our small groups and played some games: some fun, some more serious. The games ranged from everyone catching a ball, to not judging a book by its cover; creating our own books with stereotypes about ourselves on the outside and the truth on the inside. Then transitioning to the battle of the sexes in a head-to-head, girls versus boy’s showdown. Tug-of-war, whip cream challenge and a spicy wing challenge. The boys won this year, with Hawkins moving into a talk about how we, as students and future workforce leaders, should be serious but still have fun with our life.

I went into Senior Kickback and was not excited. But I was moved to love and help everyone more. I had fun with the experience and enjoyed celebrating with my class.

Class of 2028, you are in for a treat next year.