“I’m ready to experience something new,” South senior Jada Jones said. “I think four years [of high school] is enough, [and] I’ve lived in Eugene my whole life.”

This eagerness for the future and reflection on the past is something every graduating senior experiences as they prepare to leave high school. It’s important to be excited for what’s coming while also not forgetting everything that has led up to thats point.

For Jada, this includes remembering her time spent with South’s newspaper and cross country team. Jada has been a reporter and editor for The Axe for two years.

“I used to be really shy, and I hated speaking in front of people and [having] people reading my writing,” Jada said when asked about her experience working on The Axe. “Newspaper really pushed me, and I got over that fear of speaking in front of a class.”

Jada described newspaper as being a very close-knit community that was always full of support. She also found another home on South’s cross country team, which she was skeptical about at first.

“I thought I hated running, but then one of my best friends convinced me to join,” Jada recalled. “The first day was so rough. The first year was actually really rough, but people were supportive. Slowly, but surely, I got better.”

Although she is not planning to continue competitive cross country in her first year at Carleton College, choosing to instead focus on academics, Jada loves the running community in Eugene and hopes to join a run club in college.

Jada is heading into her freshman year at Carleton with a double major in psychology and neuroscience. 

“I’ve always wanted to do psychology — my dad’s a psychologist, so he has some influence there,” Jada explained. She will also be taking advantage of Carleton’s open curriculum, which will allow her to take classes outside of her major; her favorite classes at South ranged from AP chemistry to AP literature. 

“I think those two polar opposites of a humanities and a science were really important for me to see that I can like both,” Jada said.

Outside of school, Jada is a violinist for the Eugene-Springfield Youth Symphony and has played the instrument for 13 years, saying that she can’t remember a time without it.

“I really love music, and that’s in all aspects,” Jada said. “[It’s] a huge part of my life.”

While Jada described her feelings about graduation as being mostly excitement, there is still that unavoidable nervousness about being thrown into an entirely new situation.

But with a new environment comes new opportunities, and Jada expressed the importance of taking those opportunities. 

“Don’t think you’re too cool for something,” she said. “I don’t know, just branch out more.”

Article by Abby Ketchum