Truth be told, high school is the best four years of your life. One thing is for certain: we’ve had some amazing times in high school and some not-so-amazing times.

Entering as clueless freshmen, we were told so many things that we never really believed- until now. We were told that high school flies by, especially your senior year. We were told that we would get used to the block scheduling and 82 minutes of class isn’t as bad as it seems. We were told to make our locker our best friend; otherwise you’ll break your back. By December of freshman year, we learned the ropes of high school, and we couldn’t have had a better guide than our last period social studies teacher.

It all started with a puffy vest and a phone. It was the first day of high school and in walks Ranjini Govender, our Global and Geography teacher, to room B14. It was our typical first day of school; we were told what supplies we needed and what was expected of us. Little did we know, this very teacher and class would provide the stories we’d tell for the rest of our high school career and teenage lives.

As freshman, we did not know what to expect from high school- how we were supposed to act, what we were supposed to learn, or how to properly check your class answering machine. However, Ms. Govender taught us all we needed to know to help jumpstart our high school education. Never will we forget the difference between the Sunnis and the Shiites, the representation of African geography in “The Lion King,” and the presence of Asian culture in the film “Mulan.” We will always speak louder when the windows are open and throw out our garbage, because now we know it’s not a teacher’s job to take out the trash.

Though her career as a Jamesville-DeWitt High School teacher was short-lived, we will be forever grateful for Ms. Govender’s insight on the world, her way with words, and her psychic tendencies. We know now that she is on to bigger and better things. The last we heard of Ms. Govender was that she studied at Cornell University to get her Ph.D. in Learning, Teaching, and Social Policy. No matter where life may take her, we will never forget the legend that is Ms. Govender.

Then came sophomore year. Seeing how Ms. Govender prepared us so well for the year to come, she recommended our entire class take AP World History. Mistake number one. Never having taken an AP before, our class was taken completely off-guard when we were plummeted by the workload so graciously given to us by social studies teacher Jamie Crawford. Needless to say, Ms. Crawford and Ms. Govender were complete opposites. There were no more Disney movies, review packets, or fun essays on why Halloween should be a national holiday. None. We were devastated.

Luckily, we recovered by sixth period Spanish class as we learned to love one singular phrase: “da Regents es coming.” Although we already got a taste for the Regents in our freshman and early sophomore year with the Earth Science and Math A exams, sophomore year’s coveted Spanish Regents was a whole other playing field. We practiced our orals daily and rigorously worked to perfect our past tenses. By the end of the year, we learned that you would need Spanish no matter what career you go in to. Even as a theoretical physicist.

Our junior year was defined by tests. Not only physically, but mentally. We had tests up the wazoo. From PSATs to SATs to ACTs, our brains were fried. Don’t forget that lovely batch of Regents at the end of the year. Although it was hard and tedious, we had the most fun junior year. We learned soon enough that it’s not worth our time stressing over tests, because in the long run we are going to remember the good times we had that year over our scores. With exciting events such as the prom and being able to drive to school, junior year was a GT all around.

But with good times come bad times. Our beloved print edition of the RamPage was being moved online and had released its last print issue in May of 2009. Along with the print edition, we also had to say goodbye to our adored journalism teacher and RamPage advisor, Joseph DeChick. We knew that it was tough for him to separate himself from the RamPage completely, seeing that he had been a part of RamPage for so long. It was hard on us too; we were so inspired by the teachings of Mr. DeChick that it was awfully sad to see him go.

As junior year came to a close, there was a looming cloud of college hanging over us that continued through the summer and into the fall of our senior year. We weren’t expecting the fall to go by so fast, but with college applications, time just seemed to disappear and escape us. After being consumed by college applications, we played the waiting game until March rolled around.

Enter, senioritis.

For the first half of the year, senioritis was not in existence. There was no room for senioritis and we were not going to jeopardize our college decisions because we were being lazy. The senior meeting at the beginning of the year was not necessary for us- we knew what we needed to do to have a successful last year of high school without falling off the face of the earth. But as the decisions rolled in around early spring, our motivation dwindled. “The second semester senior” is notorious for this behavior and we became prime examples.

With a few days left of high school, we can’t help but look back and laugh. We have been through a lot, none we regret or would take back. It’s true that high school is a once in a lifetime experience, an experience that we will always cherish.