Senior Columns

PDF: May 5, 2020

This year, everyone at Jeff High had plans for how the rest of the year would go. Freshmen looked forward to raising baby chicks in Mr. Reilly’s class and playing on a high school sports team for the first time. Sophomores looked forward to seeing their friends and performing in the spring musical. Juniors looked forward to their ring ceremony and prom. Of course, seniors had the most to look forward to, with all of the rituals involved in saying goodbye to high school and starting the next phase of their lives. We all had plans for the days, weeks and months ahead – and suddenly, those plans all went away.

From the beginning, we planned to end the year with our annual Senior Issue, featuring columns by current and former staff members of The Hyphen. Yes, the cover is inspired by the video chats we’re all part of lately. Yes, there is some coronavirus news, as well as an in-depth report on the science of conspiracy theories. However, from start to finish, it is what we planned all along: a tribute to the Jeff High Class of 2020. Enjoy.

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5 May 20202 Nov 2020 by jhshyphen

An open letter, to whoever wants to read the probably not so wise wisdom of an 18 year old

By Emma Ellis

High school has flown by and after three-and-a-half years of saying I’m so ready to get out of here, now that I’m finally here with the last day of my high school career just days away, I can’t seem to put the brakes on. I keep trying to put off things that I probably shouldn’t be putting off, like this article for example. My brain is somehow reasoning if I don’t do my end-of-high school stuff then I can push back the end of high school.

Surprisingly, that’s not how it works. Life carries on with or without you, the trick is to not get bogged down by stuff you don’t want to do. Look on the bright side. Play the hand you were dealt. No use crying over spilled milk. As stressful as it is to be graduating, to be leaving the safety of home and family, school has been preparing us for this since kindergarten. Which is an encouraging thought, or maybe not, depending on how well you’ve been paying attention these past 12 years.

Have fun in high school, make sure your involved like a sport, club or even a class like newspaper. Don’t worry if it’s all going to work out, just do your work, don’t push it back or take a shortcut — you get the most out of life when you participate in it.

My plans for after high school? I plan on going to IUS for a year or two to stay close to home until I get my own footing, then transferring for a history degree that I still am not quite sure what I’m going to do with. I hope to become a New York Times best selling author if I ever get around to finishing a book. I plan to keep playing tennis until I can’t play anymore.

I would like to use this time to send out a thank you to all my teachers in my life for teaching me and inspiring me. I want to thank my coaches for always pushing me to go the extra step. A special thanks to my grampy, for always supporting my tennis career. I want to thank my family, my dad who is always there when I need him and wanting to help however he can, my mom who has picked me up and dropped me off at every practice, lesson, match, whether it be 5am for morning practice or picking me up past midnight, and last but not least I want to thank my sister for always being her bright smiling sweet self that brightens my day no matter how much of my stuff she breaks. There is no point in stressing over something you can’t do anything about, so just say ok and move on with your day.

27 May 201924 May 2019 by jhshyphen

The Perks of Being a “Joiner”

By Haylee Hedrick

High school has taught me how one can be a part of almost every social circle and yet not a part of one at all.

When I walk through JHS, it feels like home away from home. I walk through the halls every day and get to see so many people that have made this experience as great as it is for me. People that are like me, and people that are so different from me, seem to know my name or they know something that I’m a part of. I have formed a connection within the student body and have been honored enough to make an impact during my high school experience.

They say that life’s what you make it, and by “they” I mean your teacher, or parents or someone who has the experience to tell you it’s not a myth. I’m just another one of those people telling you that it’s true. When you enter into high school, you don’t know where you’re going to fit in, you don’t quite know what new friends are going to make yet or if you’re going to like your classes — but something that I can tell you that you can completely control is what you get into and what you get involved with. Getting involved is my key to enjoying high school.

There’s going to be that typical fear that you won’t find something for you. Well, I promise you will. I’ve been exposed to 20+ groups within Jeff High alone, and all of them are great groups to get to know. As a freshman, you can choose to sit back and watch people experience high school without you, or you can choose to join in and to be a joiner — and that’s what I did.

“You can’t walk into JHS without someone in the office, or a staff member in general, knowing Haylee and what she does for the school!”- Mom

“Forming connections is important. The people you meet and their perception of you can take you far (or hold you back dependably). Always value the relationships you make” – Dad

I can tell you first-hand being involved in clubs is the best thing that I’ve ever done for myself. As soon as you join a club, you get to know some people that have similar interests as you even if it’s just that you both want to be a part of this club or want to make a difference. Automatically you have a “family” of peers and supports because you are part of something, and it makes this huge place not seem near as big or scary.

Also, the sponsors of those clubs can become some of your greatest idols. Plus it’s always good to have an adult that you feel comfortable around and that you feel like you can come to when things happen. (I’m not saying the things will, but c’mon it’s high school
and sometimes you get into a situation where you just need of a little help.) But it’s okay because you’re making connections and the more connections you make, the more people that will help you — and vice versa. In the long run, you learn that means the more people you can help. Being involved has made me want to come to school and not only is it wanting to come but it’s wanting to stay rather than stay longer even though I’m going to graduate and stay longer after school and come on the weekends and to truly be proud to say that I am a Red Devil and I am a part of Jeffersonville High School. So yeah, high school is what you make it, and believe it or not it can be a place full of smiling faces and familiar faces and people that really know you and know what you stand for. It can surely be some of the greatest years of your life if you let it. So my motion to you is get involved, join clubs and make yourself known for the right reasons. It’s a huge benefit and I promise it pays off.

I enjoy school as much as I do because I’ve built a name for myself here. I’ve got a friend in every corner.

I’ve formed enough connections between different groups and members of cliques that I’m well known enough to feel like I’m a small part of, for lack of a better word, every social circle. Yet I really dislike the phrase “social circle” in itself because I feel like JHS isn’t just social circles and I’ve been able to “prove that.” It’s a big family that works together and I’m blessed to be one member of this family.

Special Thanks

Key Club: Thank you for allowing me to give back to the community and do good for the students within our school. The Key in Key Club means Kiwanis Empowering Youth and the club for me is about community service and doing something because you want to help and since it’s the right thing to do, no reward needed except for the satisfaction in knowing that you helped. You have allowed me to lead a group of driven individuals who want to make the world a better place. I’ve met some truly remarkable people through this group and I am honored to be named the president of the club for the 2018-19 school year.

Dance Marathon: Thank you for showing me what it’s truly like to be a part of something larger than myself and to set a goal that will help so many people so many more than I can even imagine. I like that I’m a small part of that and part of this huge community of people that have the same interest at heart as I do. That’s an amazing feeling to have and it’s a similarity that I have with people that I’ve never even met before.

Student Council: The committee roles I’ve been honored to hold in Student Council have taught me a lot about myself. Pep rally has taught me that you really do have to get pushed down to recognize the strength that you have to get back up and keep going. Planning the pep rallies has instilled in me the skills to adjust quickly, go with the flow and solve problems. You can plan those things to the T and still there will be adjustments made the day of. Due to pep rally I have had to learn skills and tackle obstacles I never thought I’d encounter. Thank you Student Council for pushing me to my limits all to prove to me that I can in fact do it.

The Hyphen: This role has “forced” me to conquer some of my fears and introduce myself to groups that I never thought I would associate with — not because of anything do with them, but simply because I wasn’t a part of their club or their team and I didn’t have a reason to be until a story came with them and it was my job to report on that story. Lo and behold, I got to know that and I made a connection there and now I feel like I really know our chess team or I really got to know the personalities behind the basketball players and I have a personal connection with the swim team and I genuinely want them to do well because I know them truly. I report on the school board all the time and that has allowed me to get to know them and for them to recognize my face and know who I am and make a connection to me through a group that I am a part of. Thank you for “forcing me” to meet these extraordinary people.

26 May 201923 May 2019 by jhshyphen

Before You Judge, Take Time to Get to Really Know Someone

By Tyler Hughes

Reach the Unreached, Touch the Untouched

At Jeffersonville High School, a lot of people make assumptions about one another and really just look at their peers and basically judge a book by its cover. Some, maybe most, kids at Jeff look at me as the “Jock of the School.” They see me as this kinda big headed guy who thinks he’s better than everyone and someone who has no heart when it comes to certain things. My peers look at me that way until they get to really know me. Yes, I can be a little confident about certain things because for the most part I’m a humble, kind hearted, funny and enjoyable person to be around.

Over spring break, my senior year of 2019, I took time out of my life to make a difference in someone else’s. I went on a mission trip to San Reymundo, Guatemala, and helped build six houses for families who only lived under sticks and tarps, if they were even lucky to live in that kind of “shelter.” We started from just dirt on the ground, to making a concrete base, building walls with wood, to making a roof with pro rib, to installing electricity in their new home. We supplied them with beds, blankets, couches and a TV. The house we built may have not have been the biggest but to them it was a mansion. We
built this house with every ounce of love. Over the course of us building this house for these families, we got to spend time and connect with the kids and families. If anyone really knows me, I’m a sucker for kids and am so easy to connect with kids easier than anyone else. I connected to each and every kid of the families in such a beautiful way that I’ve never felt before with anyone. Each and every day we arrived and left the site where we built the house, the kids would line up and give me a hug and a kiss on the cheek and tell me how much they appreciated me.

This trip was definitely life changing and I couldn’t have been more blessed to be able to create a huge impact on each and every one of their lives. And I just wish people would just take a second and truly get to know me and who I am really am.

25 May 201923 May 2019 by jhshyphen

Step Out of Your Comfort Zone

By Antonio Thompson

First I’d like to thank all my friends and teachers for the amazing years I had at Jeff High. My senior year was filled with love and lots of memories, good and bad. The good is that I got to see my friends everyday. The bad is that I didn’t finish my senior year of basketball with my closest friends.

Throughout my years here, I slowly stepped out of my comfort zone and stopped being shy with a lot of people and that was probably the best decision that I’ve made. Til this day I wouldn’t have the friends that I have now if I wasn’t able to step out.

I realized around my sophomore year that high school can be a place to make new friends, try new sports, different clubs, etc, and I made sure I took advantage of it. I suggest you could do the same.

24 May 201923 May 2019 by jhshyphen

Photos by Caleb Sorrells

23 May 2019 by jhshyphen

Be Where Your Feet Are

By Jack Ellis

High school, essentially the greatest years of our young lives. A time that we will never ever get back. Whether or not right now you are having troubles in high school or even having the time of your life, cherish it. Cherish the good, cherish the bad, just take everything in. Before you know it, you will have just a few days left of high school, just a few days left with all of your friends, and just a few days left until you never see some of these faces you have become so familiar with again.

Kind of harsh, I know. That is the harsh reality we have to deal with. We have a couple of weeks until the real world hits us harder than a semi-truck. So to whoever is reading this, live in the moment. Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do anything. Do everything you can at school, go be involved in a club, go try out for the sport that you always wanted to play.

Go make friends, stay out late and maybe do some things that you probably shouldn’t, go to that party everyone is talking about. One day you will look back at the things you missed because you were too scared or too shy to do it. And it will haunt you. Embrace high school, get out of the house and have fun, because high school is a one-time thing. You will never get these years back, there are no do-overs, you get one time to do this thing — so do it right.

As much as I say that I want to get out of this place, I would do anything to get 4 more years of high school. As seniors, we begin to take our last exams, we attend our last pep rallies (even though they took OUR spirit stick away). We attend our last basketball games as a student. We put on that jersey one last time, we take to the court or the field for one last time. There is one common denominator with all of us: we have the same four letters across our chest. Just a word to others, but to us it is our pride and joy, our home.

No matter who you are, or what you do, take these four years of high school and make them the best years you have ever had. One day you will be right where I am, wishing you could have it all back.

23 May 201922 May 2019 by jhshyphen

An Open Letter To My Freshman Year Self

By Chloe Treat

I’ll start by saying congratulations. Congrats for making it through what could have quite possibly been the lowest 4 years of your life. Not the worst, but the lowest. You had highs, plenty of them, but when those lows hit, they hit hard. I’m not exactly writing this to fill you in on all the things you’ll eventually learn, but to ease your anxiety on how those things are going to go, and to let you know that you’re doing fine.

You’re 14, so I hate to tell you, but that boy you met, it’s not going to work out. He’ll become your “whole world”, and that world is going to get thrown upside down and turned inside out. I also regret to inform you that the friends you have now are going to be long gone come senior year, so cherish them while you can.

So yes, you’re going to lose a lot, family even, the people that kept you going day and night, but these losses are going to bring you some pretty amazing gains. You’re strong. The universe and God will never burden you with something you can’t handle. It is NOT going to be easy, but it will be damn good in the end.

The Hyphen? Yes you made the staff, and believe it or not, you’re the Editor-in- Chief. This is going to stress you out more than you’ll ever know, but you’re going to win first places and find something within yourself you didn’t even know existed. You’re going to become opinionated and educated, and you’re going to find your voice in this loud world. You will debate, argue, and shed some tears over the things you’re passionate about. Keep your head up, because one of these days you might just change the world.

You’re going to have to grow up a little faster than your peers, and junior year is going to make you question everything you thought you knew. About yourself, your family, your faith, and the universe in general. Some really messed up stuff is going to happen, but you’ll make it through with the help of some genuine people.

Senior year is going to start off strange, but you’ll quickly fall into place. Football games and late nights at IHOP are going to become the highlight of your week, soak in the moment. You’ll soon become friends with girls that you never even imagined you’d talk to, and one of them is going to become your best friend.

I know what you’re thinking, “I will never have a best friend, I’m just too different”. Well think again because you’re going to find someone that may be just about as different as
you, her name is Lizzy, and you need to keep her close. You won’t be able to do it without her, but she isn’t the only one.

I know this is a lot to take in at once, but you need to know that all of the pain and hardships you go through truly do pay off. Stay true to yourself, be respectful yet skeptical. Find something to believe in and carry it close. Speak out and up when the room is silent, because someone has to. Keep fighting for social justice, gender equality,
and for this earth, even when it isn’t the cool thing to do. But most importantly, stay you. Stay loud, weird, and somewhat annoying, because as you know, well-behaved women seldom make history.

22 May 201922 May 2019 by jhshyphen