High school can be defined for many as a confining and often limiting time of a student’s life. It’s said to mold your way of life and stifle creative and personal journeys. For Mia Jenrette, her soon-to-come graduation serves as a beacon of liberation from these confinements. 

With a future of majoring in Diagnostic Medical Sonography at St.Philips College, and aspirations to be an ultrasound technician, Jenrette wasn’t always sure of her plan for her  future. 

“I always knew I wanted to go into the medical field but I went between nursing and a few other careers like surgeons and radiologists,” Jenrette said. “The one I kept going back to was an ultrasound technician.”

One thing she was always sure of, however, was the excitement of graduating high school. 

“After high school, I’m most excited about leaving this area and the freedom I’m going to have,” Jenrette Said. “The fact that I’ll be able to live and create my own life away from here is what helps ease the anxiety about graduation.”

Despite her eagerness to get away from this environment, she acknowledges that high school has played a significant role in shaping her personal growth and development.

“I think I actually gained a level of maturity and responsibility,” she said. “I got to learn how to work well with others instead of doing everything all by myself all the time.”

Her improvement hasn’t gone unnoticed by her teachers either; they’ve also recognized the strides she’s made in her steps toward adulthood.

“One of the privileges of teaching her as a junior and senior is really watching that last phase of her growing up, becoming an adult, and really finding out who she is and watching her become herself,” English teacher Mr. Varvel said.