Seniors Return to High School for Celebration and Yearbook Signing

With only one week remaining of Senior Options and graduation in fewer than three, the end of the Class of 2022’s time in Scarsdale has all but arrived. However, before the graduation rehearsal and the official ceremony, there was one final opportunity for the class to gather at the school together.

Dubbed “Senior Transition Day,” the graduating class came into school on Monday June 6 for a relaxed day of college preparation workshops, a high school reflection session and the distribution and signing of yearbooks under a festive backdrop with posters and food scattered around the Brewster Road entrance of the high school. The Brewster Raod entrance was taken over by the Class of 2022

A panel of SHS graduates who are now in college opened the day, with a question-and-answer workshop to address students’ biggest concerns about the transition to college. Seniors asked, “What is one thing you wish you knew going into college?” “Do you feel as if Scarsdale prepared you well for the workload you receive?” and “How do I calm some of my biggest anxieties about starting anew?”

A panel of college students gave advice to the graduating classAfter the insightful session, the auditorium projector displayed a montage of many SHS teachers and staff members giving words of wisdom and congratulating the graduating class.

The grade was then split up into their dean groups for reflections on their high school experiences. Seniors were tasked with writing pieces of advice for the incoming freshman class. Some of the advice was profound, such as, “Find what you enjoy learning and do not be scared to use teachers apart from class time as valuable resources.” Others were a bit less serious, such as the suggestion to “start weightlifting earlier.” Regardless, the pieces of guidance had a sense of irony to them as they apply to both SHS’s incoming freshmen as well as next year’s college freshman (as in, this year’s seniors’ advice is applicable to their own lives too).

Students then had the opportunity to write surprise letters to teachers or staff members who had a positive impact on their high school experience. Subsequently, students were returned letters they wrote to their future selves in eighth and ninth grades. Some were disappointed with what they wrote to themselves, feeling that they should have been more creative.

Once the deans dismissed their respective students, the seniors headed to the Brewster entrance to receive their own yearbooks and sign each other’s. It was a scene straight from a movie: people emotionally going up to close and distant friends for what could be their final ever meaningful interaction. Heartfelt messages were written, comedic comments made, and everything in between. Whether it be a joke from a classmate not known well on a personal level to paragraph from long-standing best friends, the yearbooks were littered with meaningful quotes and the emotion in the room was tangible. Seniors signed yearbooks for over an hour

Refreshments, food, and dessert were offered during the yearbook signing portion, though most students spent over an hour signing and reminiscing before even noticing the lunch and sweets on offer. Signs adorning pictures of students at their elementary schools were on display near the entrance, giving students the opportunity to see how they as individuals, and as friend groups, have evolved.

Senior Transition Day is not given much attention because, with prom a couple of weeks before and graduation a handful of weeks after, why would it? Nonetheless, it is a valuable day when students get to reconnect in school one final time and share messages with their classmates in a meaningful way. The warm, sunny backdrop for the day was fitting for the bright experience.