As the Class of 2026 heads toward graduation, many seniors may start reflecting on what they’ve learned during their time at LASA, and what they want younger students to know before they cross the stage themselves.
Ari Pople, a LASA senior, explained how she has learned that friendship is an important lesson. For her, the strength of those bonds is what defined her high school journey.
“I think making good, and trusting friends,” Pople said. “I’ve found a really good group of friends over the last few years, and they really help me out a lot.”
Pople explained that learning how to manage time is another key takeaway. Looking back, she noted that the challenge was not the workload itself, but how she approached it.
“Work more on time management,” Pople said. “Manage the time that’s given to you by teachers. I think I spent a lot of my free time just messing around when it would be significantly easier to just get my work done during the time that was given for it.”
For juniors preparing for college, Pople’s advice is straightforward. She stressed the importance of refining one particular part of the application.
“It’s really important to ask as many people as you can to read [your supplementals],” Pople said. “Not that you have to take everyone’s advice, but having a lot of people definitely helps make your writing the best that it can be to submit to your colleges.
Senior Leonor Hayden explained that one of her biggest lessons has been about working with others. She realized that succeeding in group settings often requires navigating challenging personalities.
“There are horrible people everywhere,” Hayden said. “ I don’t mean evil, I just mean hard to work with. You kind of have to learn to deal with that, because they’re everywhere.”
Hayden’s advice to younger students is to enjoy their time. She advises students to avoid over-stressing the academic pressures of high school.
“Grades are not that deep,” Hayden said. “Pass your classes, and do well if that’s going to make you feel good. At least for me, I cared more about the social aspect, and I think you’re going to really regret your high school experience if you don’t go out, make friends, try new things, and live your best life.”
She reminded students to take full advantage of the school’s attendance policy. Hayden explained how students should use absences to take a break from school.
“You have four unexcused absences, per class, per semester, that you can have in a class before incurring consequences,” Hayden said. “Use those absences … Live your life, sleep in, and go to a Target. Live your best life, and use your absences.”
Senior Kirtan Amin explained the key to success is consistency. He emphasized that being deliberate with both time and teacher relationships is crucial for the future.
“Use your time wisely, study every night, and just try to make the most out of the entire day,” Amin said. “Go to office hours and meet with teachers because you need to earn your recommendation letters.”
Amin explained that clubs and sports have helped him develop life skills. For him, involvement outside of class was the best way to develop the soft skills necessary for the world beyond high school.
“Communication and time management,” Amin said. “Don’t wear yourself out, and don’t force yourself to cram. Learn how to talk to people, learn how to build connections, because you don’t know what’s going to happen in the future or who’s going to be your friend.”
