As a senior, I know a lot of things that freshman don’t know or haven’t experienced yet.

The main thing I would tell underclassmen and/or future students of CHS is that your GPA can drop a lot faster than you can bring it back up. Don’t think you’re an exception to everyone else.

If you slack then you’ll end up in this situation.

Have fun during pep-rallies: scream as loud as you can, cover yourself in school colors and carry yourself with Chapman pride.

These four years are something you can never get back.

By senior year, winning the spirit stick will be something that you live for and will take pride in.

During spirit week, dress up and have a good time! Don’t take into consideration what other people will say. It’s your high school years and it’s your job to make them the absolute best.

You don’t need to be the follower of someone else. Don’t live through someone else’s experiences.

Go to as many football games, basketball games, baseball games, etc. as you can because once you graduate, the student section will no longer be your home.

Dress up for home games to show your school spirit. If that means painting up for spirit night just to sweat all the paint off, then do it anyways.

If it means ruining shirts because you’re covered in orange and blue, then do it anyways. You lose one shirt but you gain hundreds of memories.

These four years you spend in high school are your four years. You have the chance to make them what you want.

Get involved, get involved, get involved.

Being a part of clubs and/or organizations where you get to meet new people and help out the community doesn’t just help others. It helps you, too. It allows you to grow as a person and surround yourself with positivity – something you need constantly with the stress high school courses bring.

Learn to be respectful even when times get hard.

Administrators and teachers are here to help you, not themselves. They wake every morning, probably earlier than you, just to teach you things you need to know.

Teachers here will impact your life in more ways than you’ll ever know — not just about a certain subject, but life in general.

So listen to what they say and tell you about life. Listen to what they say about preparing yourself for college because they’ve been there and they know what they are talking about.

Don’t let the stress from one class ruin the positivity other classes and events bring. It’s not worth it.

You’re going to get through the hard times, so spend as much time as you can being positive and engaged in school activities that can bring you happiness.

At the end of your four years at CHS, all of these experiences will become memories. If you don’t make these four years worth it, then what will you have to look back on and remember: The A you made in chemistry or the Friday night you spent at home finishing a series on Netflix?

Instead of that, why not the time your class screamed so loud that you didn’t have a voice the next day, but won the spirit stick?

Or the time you attended prom and homecoming?

I promise, you would much rather reflect on the moments you spent having the time of your life. Once the chance is gone, it’s not coming back.