Manitou Springs High School, although somewhat small, can still make something big; a year.

Expectations are something that parents know all too well. However when the parents aren’t available when their child is at school, the expectations are left upon not only the teachers, but the students themselves. Expectations are things that make us who we are and who we are not.

As an old school year passes, a new one is made; something Manitou Springs High School knows all too well; and with such a small community, it is hard to let go of the seniors when they graduate. Seniors have such an influence over the younger students that they may not even realize they have it which makes it just as more difficult.

Senior Drew Faloon said, “Now that we’re seniors, there’s just a given respect that we get. I feel totally different walking through the halls now as compared to last year.”

Many of the sophomores and the somewhat new teachers described this year as something that is expected to be less difficult as compared to last year when most of them began. Second year teacher Timothy Hilt said, “I’m a lot more prepared this year. I was really unorganized last year and graded whenever I had the time. I now have a much more proficient system to do so with.” Later saying, “I really hope this year that the senior class realizes the power they have in the school.”

As so the term “seniority” comes into play.

The seniors are more than just the people at the top of the chain, they’re the role models and example setters for not only the prior classes, but the new freshman.

Coming into a completely new environment such as a high school is something that everyone adapts to differently. No one can ever truly know what to expect.

New coming freshman will have the most pressure on them because they won’t really know what to expect. However, freshman Estelle Buth already had a plan coming into this new school year. “I am going to contribute my own funky, spunky, and spiffy personality… I plan to make a bunch of new friends to spiff it up with.” But unlike most other freshman, Estelle has a sister who also attends Manitou as a senior. In Estelle’s case, she might already know what to expect.

Every person has their own way of making expectations into something that they can call their own. When all of these people get together for the start of something new such as this school year, you get something so big that it cannot just belong to one person, it belongs everyone in the school. It can only be described as something that can summarize everyone’s contributions into one big event, a year in the making

 By Nick Kellner