Fly With The Flock

The struggle is real, so lean on your fellow Falcons.

Whether it is getting up every morning before the sunrise to finish homework, staying up at night after a long day of school, or just sitting in class with the constant hum of a teacher’s voice lulling the mind into a state of sleepiness, the struggle is always real in high school.

Here at Christian Brothers, the only way to get through that struggle is to lean on fellow falcons, fly with the flock, and always seek out advice.

Student body president (and possibly future United States politician) Victoria Linares (’15) has so much advice to give to her fellow Falcons to get them through the real struggle.

The word around campus is that junior year is the hardest year.

“The biggest struggle that I think juniors will face is the whole college application thing,” Victoria says. “It was such a hard process for me and I really had to lean on my friends and my CB family.”

But the stress of high school is not just limited to juniors. Throughout high school, things change from grade to grade.

“Underclassmen really just have to learn how to coexist and be an inclusive community,” she adds. “Especially freshman because they have such a big class and they are trying to get to know themselves while also bonding with their class.”

The inclusive community that is Christian Brothers High School takes the Bill Withers song “Lean On Me” to a whole other level. Students at CB lean on one another and bond in a way that is unique to this campus.

If Victoria could tell the younger classes anything, it is that bonding with your class is so important.

Oh, and that “[high school] gets easier.”

Sophomore tennis star Amanda McAdam (’17) looks back on her freshman year and remembers how stressed she was and worried she was that she would not fit in.

Now all of the worrying and sleepless nights seem like a distant memory.

“I do try to mentor [freshmen] as much as possible, because it’s just freshman year,” Amanda assures. “They should just take it easy because it gets better, it gets easier.”

The four years of high school that every student has to go through can be hard to navigate. First, you’re a lowly freshman not even allowed to look at the seniors, then you are a sophomore and you are so close to being an upperclassmen yet so so far.

The clock on Amanda’s sophomore year is ticking and soon she will be at the top of the food chain as an upperclassmen

“As an upperclassman, I am really looking forward to bonding even more with my class and getting to know new people,” Amanda says.

This transition is marked mostly by having lunch after E Set rather than before but in some ways it is so much more than that. It is about the end of high school drawing near, being so close, yet so far away.

Upperclassmen, while close in age to sophomores, have more experience and can offer the younger kids on campus great advice.

“I think it is good talking to upperclassmen because they have first hand experience and I think they are the people that you should talk to about your high school experience,” Amanda says.

No one wants to miss anything their high school experience has to offer them. Four years seems like a long time but it flies by.

“I think the biggest thing I would want to know [from an upperclassman] is what their biggest regret is, what is it, if anything, that I cannot miss out on in my sophomore year.” says Amanda McAdam.

Here is the best advice any senior could give: love all fellow Falcons! And always fly with the flock. The struggle is real, but the burden is light with the support of the CB family.