GRIND GRIND GRIND.  

Webb’s schedule and rigor go hand-in-hand. From long-lunch club meetings and afternoon activities to evening study hours, every moment of your life is occupied by some activity or commitment. After adapting ourselves to this intense rhythm, senior spring semester can feel like a refreshing change of pace –– when you’ve finally pressed submit for all college applications and reached the sweet spot of nothing-else-left-to-do.  

A question thus arises: with all this free time previously consumed by summer school plans, standardized testing prep, extracurricular activities, how will you live your second semester to its fullest? 

Yvette Shu (‘23), an alumnus and former class president, shares her motto for doing things that she won’t regret.  

“One of my mentors at Hopkins gave me a great piece of advice: what matters most is how you feel,” Yvette said. “College –– and, of course, high school –– is one of the only times you can mess around without any consequences. And yet, it’s the time when we feel like everything matters the most.” 

Jolina Zhao (‘23), an alumnus and former student government executive, used her newfound freedom to spend more time with her class.  

“I did not miss any of the senior events or campus-wide things even if I was tired, because I knew that it was going to be the last time I was gonna experience it,” Jolina said.  

For many, this may mean taking advantage of senior privileges, such as Thursday night dinner passes, 8-hour weekend passes, and loosened driving restrictions, all of which serve to maximize seniors’ memories and experiences in their final semester.  

It can also manifest in community-oriented activities –– be it Casino Night, DSP Social, weekend runs –– whether on or off campus. Hanson Hu (‘23), an alumnus and former honor cabinet member, recommends planning trips together with friends and taking lots of photos.  

“If there was a restaurant 40 minutes away that you really wanted to try, but you never got the chance, now is the time to try it with your friends,” Hanson said.  

With the chance to freely explore their intellectual curiosities, seniors now have the luxury of focusing more on the learning process, rather than a rigid letter outcome that could jeopardize one’s future.  

“I started shifting to a mentality that was like, I’m learning to learn, and not for anything else,” Jolina said. “With that mindset, I enjoyed doing the work in my classes because I genuinely found it to be interesting.”  

On the other hand, Hanson cautions that one should balance their senioritis –– the sudden loss of motivation and unexplainable urge to perpetually ignore deadlines –– with a baseline work ethic, so they would not have to spend the last week of school making up for all the missing assignments, cough cough.  

Finally, try new things and let loose (within the bounds of Webb’s Honor Code, of course)! Senior spring is likely one of the only times you have abundant time, energy, and freedom to pursue your passions, or even discover new ones. Perhaps you’ve wondered what it’s like to try springboard diving. Maybe you’ve been itching to perfect a British accent. Or you hope to research a niche topic through the Humanities Thesis Seminar course. The point is, don’t waste your time on dull things!  

“Find things that you love to do and that bring you joy, because you will have a lot of free time at the end of the year, and that’s when people’s fun sides come out,” said Dr. Wendy Maxon, a twenty-year dorm on-duty faculty. “One year, a lot of seniors would play games [mahjong] in the Appleby and Jones lounges, and it was wonderful.” 

If he could do it again, Sebastian Hoffman (‘23), an alumnus and former dorm prefect, shares that he would spend more time exploring the Claremont and greater Los Angeles areas with his friends, whom he still deeply misses in college. 

To sum it up: Build core memories! Have fun! Waste your time, or not! Hang out with friends! Everyone can prioritize different things, but as June inches closer by the day, seniors should ask themselves: What do you want your last chapter in high school to look like?