Today marks my last day as a New Trier High School student. Like the rest of the Class of 2025, I’m exhausted after a long, sometimes bizarre college admissions cycle while simultaneously looking forward to rejuvenating and preparing for my next steps beyond the North Shore. Before that can happen, though, I want to rejoice in the joy that nearing graduation brings: the fact that, for a whole week, I don’t have to wake up before 7 a.m. As a junior, I decided to sign up for Early Bird for the first time. Was that necessary? No. Was it worth it? Yes. Taking that class opened room in my schedule to join the Senior Instructional Leadership Corps and become a teaching assistant for English Learners Biology. That was one of the many times when New Trier gave me an opportunity to explore my interests, and I took it. While high school has its ups and downs, it’s true you get out of it what you put into it. Trying out six extracurricular clubs and rising the ranks of The New Trier News to e...