As a young adolescent, proper education is important not just in terms of academics, but institution as well. An institution should provide a stable environment populated by bright, smart youngsters and educators willing to help them become even more so. As I reach the end of my final high school semester, I can’t help but talk about the school that taught me everything I need to know in the only way I know how: a review. 

West Orange High School (WOHS) is a bit of a mixed bag, but that goes without saying because our student body is incredibly diverse. People make friends with others that they would never have made in any other circumstance. I’ve certainly made a handful of friends, and I think some of them will stay lifelong pals, and that’s a very special feeling. However, the building’s architecture is a nightmare. The school as it stands today was originally two different schools (Mountain, Abraham Lincoln Junior), and boy can you sure tell. All sorts of levels and designs on paper would certainly make the school an eyesore, but somehow it works.

Personally, I don’t believe the subject matter that is taught to us is boring; it’s the teacher’s job to make it enriching and exciting for us. The educators and staff are some of the most engaging and wonderful teachers you could ever ask for. While a certain handful of them contributed negatively to my dumpster-fire mental health, most of them were caring and empathetic and understood the problems that we had, because believe it or not, they were our age once, and the best kinds of teachers are the ones that remember those times: the good, the bad, and the ugly. I will never forget some of them.

WOHS really puts the “extra” in extracurriculars. Jeez Louise, there are so many clubs and groups to join. All of your interests can be expanded and improved upon with all of these extracurricular activities. I personally enjoyed the arts, music, and literature clubs the most, but that’s just me. You can never really have the high school experience without clubs, and I’m happy that WOHS has such a large and diverse group of them.

In terms of what I learned… well, I can’t really tell you about what I learned about academically because, like I said, you usually remember the stuff you learned if it was fun to learn about. But, I can tell you what I learned about personally. I learned that the world is a scary, scary place that might continue to get worse as time goes on, and I plan to learn even more about the world when I go off to college in the fall. WOHS was a nice, little appetizer for what’s really coming next, and I cannot wait to find out.