CLASS OF 2000 -- Moving on to college and careers

Angelique Flores

* EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the last in a series of stories following five

local high school seniors who are a part of the class of 2000. The teens

-- four of whom serve as presidents of their respective student councils

and the fifth is a student representative to the school board -- have

shared their views on their year and the century. We now revisit them as

their high school days come to an end.

After a year filled with excitement, anticipation and hard work, the

class of 2000 teens have finally made it through high school and are

warming up for college.

The last time we checked in with our panel of five students, they had

nearly completed their first semester. They were polishing their college

applications and already starting to miss their high school glory days.

“I really felt like I was a part of something here,” said Michael Hill of

Edison High School.

Now, the 18-year-old grads are looking ahead to adulthood and the

approaching college years, hoping to duplicate their high school success.

Hill will go to UCI to major in history and film studies.

“I want to get involved like I did in high school because it really adds

to things and makes the experience more exciting and worth it,” Hill

said.

Stacy Wallace of Marina High School will pursue her goal of teaching at

Cal State Long Beach.

Brandon Stewart of Fountain Valley High School will carry his musical

aspirations to Brigham Young University, where he plans to double major

in piano and voice performance. As a member of the Mormon Church, he

plans to leave after his first year for a two-year hiatus to carry out

his mission.

Rona Smith of Huntington Beach High School plans to focus on media or law

at USC.

Josh Cable of Ocean View High School will head to Harvard University in

the fall to study economics or government.

“I’m looking forward to meeting new people and being away from my

parents,” Cable said. “It feels good to be moving on, but it’s sad.”

Hill and Smith said they already have plans to run for student government

again. Wallace said she would like to join a sorority. Stewart said he

thinks he might be too busy for nonacademic activities with his two

majors.

While these young adults are thinking about diving into four more years

of studies and activities, they’re also thinking about being away from

parents, paying bills and just growing up.

“Reality has told me that I should get a job,” said Smith, who never had

one before because her parents wanted her to stay focused on schoolwork.

She’s already applied for a summer job, opened up a savings account and

thought about having to pay her own electric bills.

“It will be the first time in my life when I deal with paying my own

bills,” she said. “It’s weird for me.”

Cable has already started his summer job as a lifeguard and swim

instructor. Stewart is working at Meade Instruments Corp. as an office

assistant. Hill will start his job as a children’s camp counselor Monday.

Though the hype of being the class of 2000 has died down, some of the

teens have internalized the pressures they have felt since the beginning

of the school year.

“It seemed like a lot of people had high expectations for us to be

different,” Cable said. “We were the sign of the times, the indicator of

things to come.”

Cable said his class wasn’t any different or more successful than the

last, but he does believe they were more carefully scrutinized.

Stewart said every graduating class has expectations, but this class was

treated different.

“We’re expected to lead the way for the next century,” he said. “We have

a title to live up to, which is a good motivator to start something new

and fresh. I have personal responsibility to take today’s advances

further.”

Class of 2000 or not, Wallace is confident she and her peers will make

their contributions to society living in a technologically advanced age.

Cable looks at today’s societal advantages and is grateful to be a part

of a more diverse culture.

“It gives me a different perspective and the ability to get along with

people and be sensitive to cultural differences,” he said.

All of the graduates are driven to keep their grades up in college, they

said.

“I was successful in high school, academically and with student

government, and I want to try and repeat that,” Hill said.

Smith said her parents were strict with her, and she hopes she can handle

the new freedom she’ll have while away at college.

“I hope I don’t go crazy without that parental presence,” she said.

Stewart said he isn’t nervous at all.

“I’m looking forward to moving on to be with people who are mature and

focused,” he said.

Wallace, now in Las Vegas with a friend, has few fears about college and

said she is taking it easy this summer.

“I’ll survive,” she said confidently.

Having already survived one of life’s milestones, some of these grads

have words of wisdom for the class of 2001.”Half of your high school

experience is outside the classroom. What you put in is what you get out

of it,” Hill said, recommending that students get involved with

extracurricular activities.

However, Cable warns students about getting involved in too much.

“There’s a lot of emphasis on trying to be good at everything,” he said.

“Students are pushed to do more than they can handle, and we need to

learn how to say no.”