Winter break has come and gone, second semester has arrived.

For most this is the semester that stands between them and summer break. While some daydream of the warm weather, the summer gatherings, and the late nights others contemplate their future. This semester is anything but normal for seniors.

For years leading up to high school you’ve more than likely heard all about the high school experience, you’ve heard the mantra “I am preparing you for high school” relentlessly from grade school teachers, and you’ve heard of the lifelong friends that you would meet.

Seniors, here we are; we have entered the second half, we have entered the final act, we have entered the final stretch.

For Loyola alum Samantha Nieman it wasn’t necessarily about the Senior experience solely, but more so about the people, “I definitely recommend going to the events, but more than anything spend time with your friends. The times I remember the most from my high school days were the ones that I spent close to my friends doing the least thrilling things such as sitting in the hallway together.”

Samantha also emphasized taking advantage of each and every opportunity to spend time with those close friends, “My favorite memory from second semester senior year was going to the senior sunset event that they had in the fourth quarter. It’s memories like those that you’ll cherish forever.”

Tyler Langford ‘21 emphasized more of the event aspect of second semester saying “I think it’s important to go to everything that you can just to really get the full Loyola experience in your second semester.

Langford personally recalled his times at sporting events saying “For me it was going to tons of sporting events and bringing students sections to events that would normally have them (student sections). That was an absolute blast.”

When asked both if they had any regrets the answer was unanimous, “Honestly no. I had a blast and had the best second semester senior year,” Langford said.

Both alums did have words of advice, though. Samantha said, “Don’t overstress about grades. It’s good to be studious and keep up with your work so you don’t fail, but one or two missing assignments isn’t going to be the end of the world.”

Samantha continued “Focus on spending more time with friends than stressing over little assignments. The assignments won’t bear much memory in college, but the times spent with friends will last forever.”

The high school years are truly unique. Not many years will replicate the ones that you had in high school. As we enter the second semester I urge you to take the alums’ advice and enjoy it as much as you can. Loyola is a unique place with unique opportunities so take advantage of everything that is thrown at you, and most importantly…have fun!