A high school experience unlike any other: the Holly Spirit says goodbye to senior staff members

In my four years at Rancocas Valley, I have witnessed the greatest transformation within myself — evolving from a timid freshman to one of the most confident, outgoing, and fierce seniors to ever walk the halls of RV, at least I like to think so. Freshman year is mostly a blur, buffered out of my memory by months of quarantine and masks. However, in that year, I played soccer, continued my rigoro...

If you were to tell me four years ago that I would be writing this, I probably would have laughed in your face. The moment I walked into high school I thought I knew exactly how my next four years would go, but much to 14-year old Ella’s chagrin and 18-year old Ella’s benefit, I was very very wrong. I still remember sitting at my desk last year while Mrs. Sherman announced to my class that she was sta...

I have always loved paradoxes.  For someone who struggles with science and who panics at the first mention of atoms or any of Newton’s laws, paradoxes have always been a particularly intriguing concept to me.  Try to get me to solve a force equation and I’ll probably cry, but mention the Bootstrap or Grandfather Paradoxes and I could go on and on for hours. Paradoxes can twist your mind a...

If you would have told my freshman self that I would be where I am today I wouldn’t have believed you. I have changed so much since freshman year from being so shy and timid, to still shy, but more outgoing and ready to take on the world. I remember starting as a freshman in a new school, full of new people thinking that my life was over and that I would not make any friends. I was wrong and I...

Although senior year may seem especially daunting to underclassmen, funnily enough, freshmen year felt like a much greater transition in my life. New classmates, new teachers and new opportunities that could not have been taken at a middle school, or even at a different high school. Many can recall the longing to belong in the bustling halls, not just me. As artificial as it may seem, I didn’t...

As cliché as it may sound, if you would have told me my freshman year that I would accomplish half of what I have accomplished throughout my four years at RV, I would have never believed you. I came into high school reserved, and I remember feeling like I would never quite find my place in the RV halls. I’m not entirely sure when or how, but I became acclimated to RV and its community. As I loo...

I am not a pretty sentimental person when it comes to goodbyes, so I will be making this send-off short and sweet. And to start it off, I would like to say that when it comes to being a student in RV, it is essential to become involved. This is to all students, whether a freshman to a senior, it can never be too late to join a club or activity that piques your interest. I say this because when ...

I have changed since my freshman year in that the way I think is different. Instead of being close-minded, RV has opened my eyes to many perspectives. I have learned to think logically and to have an individual opinion. At RV I have branched out and talked to new people. I have also learned to manage my time and weigh my opportunities in and out of school.  My advice to those considering joining the H...

Walking into RV on the first day of my freshman year I have never experienced such heightened anxiety. Moving on from my comfortable K-8 experience at Hainesport School to an unfamiliar maze of hallways at RV was what I thought to be the biggest change I would have to endure. However, with hindsight being 20/20, I look back and think of how that would be the best kind of change I could have as...

Sleeping my way through Sherm’s Honors English III class last year (joking of course!...), I am glad she had caught my attention when she had announced that she wished to start up our student-run newspaper once more. To be completely transparent, I had joined mainly to plump up my college resumé, however, I most definitely do not regret my decision. Now I am not just saying that because I am g...

To say the last four years at RV has been the best years of my life would be an understatement. While I've made new friends, learned new things and indulged in many opportunities, the greatest thing that I will take with me from RV is myself. I came into this school as a person who easily fell into society’s standards, someone who questioned how I could love my color when the world hated...

This may sound cliche, but high school has been a roller coaster. There were a lot of ups and downs between school, relationships and sports. I honestly have never been faced with more adversity in my life ever. I remember my first encounter with adversity started when I was a freshman at my first, high school, football practice. Growing up in Burlington Township, my talents and athletic abili...

My time here at Rancocas Valley has been a life changing experience, as I have seen changes in all areas around my life such as interests, new hobbies, and new friends. Coming in as a freshman, I revolved my life around sports only, which limited my growth as an individual and shielded me from certain things. I soon began to branch out, joining my first club in my freshman year, then joining my...

I don’t know what got into me when Sherman announced to my junior English class that she was starting the school newspaper again and looking for anyone interested in joining. I’ve never been involved in any form of journalism or extracurricular writing throughout high school, but for some reason, I automatically expressed my interest in joining. I had no idea what I was in for, to say the least....

Even though it was only four years ago, freshman year feels like such a distant past. I remember being scared of getting lost in the halls of RV and being nervous talking to new people. I remember joining the Holly Spirit and having to interview people being the bane of my existence. Although I still get nervous sometimes, I've become more comfortable and confident in myself and talking ...

Freshman year I was told that high school was going to fly by and that in a blink of an eye I would graduate. I didn’t think that was going to happen but it did. Although my time at Rancocas Valley Regional High School went faster than I thought, I enjoyed every second of it. High school wasn’t as I expected it to be but it all worked out. I was a quiet freshman unsure of my next four years and honestly...

It’s odd having to write this, it does not even feel real. It still feels like I just entered high school and thought I had no real control as to what is going to happen next. Though, now that I’m leaving with a newly found sense of confidence, I realized that the future will not be as bad as I thought it might be. It is normal to be afraid of the unknown (and to be frank, I still am), yet ther...

Many students don’t have the privilege or opportunities to have gone to a high school that compares to RV. When I walk across the stage to accept my diploma, I will be leaving behind the school I have called home and the people I have called family. If you asked if I was glad to be graduating from RV, I would confidently say absolutely. There’s a whole world out there for me to see and I cann...

Time: where did it really go? As the end of the school year is approaching, my awareness of the time I have left at RV is becoming more prominent and surreal.  For me, time is everything. I learned that these past four years. From freshman year, blinded by things that some would say, don’t necessarily matter like, messing around or playing video games. By sophomore year I created a solid f...

In the spirit of Opinion’s transparency, I’m going to be completely honest in saying that this was the first and only piece I wrote this year, mostly because I am not a big writer (which is extremely ironic).  Last year, Sherm had strongly persuaded (borderline coerced) me to join the newspaper, enticing me with statements like “it will look really good on college apps' ' and “We’re in ...

I'm not good at saying farewell since I know some people will read this and move on, so I don't take these things seriously. I don't think I have much to say, or that my words will have much of an impact. People will be unable to comprehend or relate to my statements because we have all had different experiences during the last four years. But there is one thing we all have in common: we did this all...

“How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.” - A.A. Milne Saying goodbye to RV, the Holly Spirit and the teachers here that have helped me grow as an individual is not going to be easy. I still can not believe that four years have passed since I first started high school. I have learned a lot since freshman year, from my schoolwork and becoming a better individual an...