The Viking Voice

[The interviews have been edited for clarity.] 

What advice would you give your high school self?

Jordan Briggs: Just know that there are bigger challenges that you will face other than IB and high school stress. And that they may seem monumental at the time, but they really are quite small.

Addison Hill: I would say to not put so much pressure on myself. I think that putting a healthy amount of stress and pressure is good because it motivates you. But I think just reminding yourself that this is not the end-all be-all because, especially doing the IB program [...] you can get really caught up in it to where it feels like there is nothing else and this is the biggest thing that’ll ever happen to you.

Elise Aldridge: You’re not going to make friends with everyone. It is okay to be nervous, but, honestly, if you just focus on your studies and meet one or two people that you can get along with, you’ll do fine. You don’t have to worry about the other people. Make friends with the teachers. Oh, my goodness. Make friends with the teachers, even more than you already are. Because once you’re on their good side, you’ll do okay. 

Mary-Lang Regen: Just to be confident in your decisions. To not be so worried about the decisions that other people are making, and to make decisions for you. 

Lydia Jin: I would tell my high school self to maybe just calm down a little bit. There [were] definitely moments where I was stressing myself out unnecessarily. I would look back and think, wow, there was no need for me to be that stressed out or that worried about whatever test or project. So, definitely just to calm down a little bit and that it’s all going to work out and be fine. 

What do you wish you prioritized more in high school? Or do you think your priorities were in a good place?

Jordan Briggs: Figuring out career-based interests and taking those things seriously. But, overall, I feel like my priorities were in a good place. 

Addison Hill: I wish that I had prioritized getting involved in more things outside of school. It’s really easy to get caught up in just focusing on your school work and I wish I had done more extracurriculars. I did clubs [...] but I definitely wish I had explored my interests more, especially going into college, because now I’m kind of struggling to figure out what I’m interested in. I think that if I had focused on that more in high school, I could’ve had a better idea. 

Elise Aldridge: I wish I prioritized French class because Madam Hummel is the toughest teacher. You really have to be on top of that homework. And I wish I decided [...] on my topics for my IA’s and my EE sooner. I was able to get my EE done, but I wish I was more decisive and didn’t flip-flop between different subjects. Figure out what you really want to do, and do that. 

Mary-Lang Regen: This is one thing that I would say that I was proud of in high school. I do think that I had my priorities in a good spot in high school. I think I worked hard enough to be successful and was proud of my academics. But, also, I made really good friendships and really prioritized my friendships. I can say that because they are all still my really good friends. A good number of us live back in Charlotte, and so I stay connected with them. We all worked really hard, but we also knew the importance of being really good friends.

Lydia Jin: I think my priorities were in a pretty good place. I feel like I had a good work-life balance between my extracurriculars and hanging out with my friends. I also had a job outside of school. [...] Of course, my top priority was my schoolwork, but I do feel like I didn’t let it control my life too much. 

What were you most scared of when graduating high school and how do you feel about it now?

Jordan Briggs: I feel like when I graduated high school I was most scared of the workload of college. Granted, it is a lot, but I was pleasantly surprised that [...] it didn’t feel like as much as it did in high school.

Addison Hill: I think that I was really scared of, honestly, the freedom. As much as the freedom was exciting, it was also really scary because there was going to be no structure. [...] After you graduate high school, there’s no one telling you what you have to do. You don’t legally have to go to school anymore if you don’t want to. It’s pretty much up to you and even though that’s really exciting, it was definitely really scary. And I kind of missed the structure of high school, and how I had someone to tell me what to do all the time. [...] But, I got over it.

Elise Aldridge: I don’t think I was scared of anything. I think I was just ready to get out, go, and try things and do things. I knew IB prepared me pretty well, so I felt like I could conquer anything. 

Mary-Lang Regen: One thing that I was scared of graduating high school was leaving my family. They were my most immediate system of support. But, I feel really comfortable about that now. You know, I did move back to Charlotte, and I do see my family often. But, I have broadened that support network [with] my college friends, my work friends now, my roommate. It was scary at first, but when you do leave, you are forced to broaden that system of support. And so, I now have other ways of finding support when I need it, and my family is still always there. 

Lydia Jin: I guess I was most scared about just being in a new environment and having to start a friend group over again. I was excited to go to college and be away from home and have that experience. But it was a little scary to be on my own for a little while and figure out my friend group again. But once I did, then everything was fine. 

What was one important decision you made in high school and how do you think your life would be if you had chosen differently?

Jordan Briggs: I think that, at the beginning of [my] junior year, [...] sitting in my home doing online school, I made the decision to join the Green Team interest meeting. And I definitely think that changed my life for the better because that was one of the organizations that I was most involved in. I feel like that really helped me get into college and really made me a well rounded person and gain leadership skills, which I would not have gained if I had not joined that interest meeting.

Addison Hill: If I had not talked to someone who was going to become one of my best friends, the beginning of senior year [...] If I hadn’t decided to strike up a conversation with someone that we were going to become great friends with, I think that my life would have taken a completely different trajectory. So, talk to people you want to talk to. Even if you’re scared or you think they don’t want to talk to you, because you might have a great friendship.

Elise Aldridge: If I had chosen to take a different science. Instead of chemistry, I think that if I had taken biology, I would be studying different things in college.  [...] I think that it would be better, because I think I would have gotten more out of my high school education if I did biology. And also socially. If I had talked to more people, I would have more friends and be more confident.

Mary-Lang Regen: The most important decision I made was going to UNC Chapel Hill. All growing up, I had my heart set on another school. When applications were coming in, I realized that, you know, even though my heart’s set on this one school, there are other schools out there. And I made a decision to go to UNC Chapel Hill and it was the best thing that has ever happened to me. I met my best friends there. I had such a great academic experience. I really stepped out of my comfort zone doing extracurriculars and things like that. And I think if I had gone to another school, I would definitely have a different group of friends. I might not have the career that I have. All these things that influence your day to day life when you’re away. I do think I would have a different life. I don’t know how different it would be, but it would be different. 

Lydia Jin: Definitely the biggest decision was which college I went to. I was deciding between Wilmington and Chapel Hill for a while and, ultimately, I chose Wilmington. I don’t think I’d be unhappy at Chapel Hill, it would just be different. I’m really happy with the decision I made, the friends I have now, and the experiences I have at Wilmington.

(For IB students) Do you think being in the IB program paid off? In what ways did or did it not?

Jordan Briggs: [Addison and I] do go back and forth on this and do debate it sometimes, but, overall, we think it did pay off and we don’t regret doing it, especially for getting into colleges. [...] We worked really hard during high school and I think that was beneficial. It did teach discipline. It did teach us the importance of dedicating ourselves to our schoolwork. [...] I feel like sometimes it didn’t help my procrastination and time management. It almost perpetuated it a little bit. I feel like in IB, I kind of learned how to push things off until the last minute and still get it done. [...] I have carried that on into college, which has kind of been to my detriment a little bit. But, also, I don’t think that’s an IB issue, I think that’s a me issue. [...] It is what you make out of it. 

Addison Hill: I think that IB can definitely boost your ego, maybe to an extent that it shouldn’t. Because you’re surrounded by people who are academic high-flyers, and you’re doing all these great things and hard tests and learning this intense curriculum. [...] And you’re doing well. [...] I think that it can be easy to get humbled when you get to college and you, maybe, aren’t flying as high as you were in IB. 

Elise Aldridge: It paid off so much. You’ll hear it from every person who has gone through their freshman year of college. It makes it so much easier. You’re not stressing about anything. Your general education courses that you have to take in English and in math and things like that. You breeze by them with your eyes closed. And then [...] when you inevitably procrastinate on your final essays and stuff like that, you can get an eight page paper done in three days when you’ve had a month to do it. And everybody else is crying, you’re just like “I’ll get it done.”

Mary-Lang Regen: Yes, I do think it paid off. I think it is a lot of work, but it’s meaningful work, and it’s work in a creative way. I think that though your assignments in your IB classes are more rigorous, [...] they have more creativity underneath it. [...] I am now an IB teacher. [...] So, just watching these younger kids develop the same thought processes that were also expected of me as a high schooler is very cool. The IB requires that you think in a different way, think in many ways. [...] It was a lot of work and at times it was really hard, but it really prepares you for the work of college. [...] And it’s not tedious work. It’s creative and hard work, but, overall, it shows how your brain works. 

Lydia Jin: I think parts of it paid off. Being able to take on a big workload and know what to prioritize and how to balance everything out over the course of the week. Definitely all the essays and the writing because you get to college, and it’s like “oh, your midterm is a 1000 word essay,” and it’s nothing. But then, I feel like parts of IB were just kind of extra at times, or it was a little unnecessary, [...] all the steps we had to complete along the way. Definitely being able to write essays and balance large workloads paid off, but parts of IB [...] they’re a little unnecessary.   

What advice would you like to give to current North Meck students?

Addison Hill: Just remember that high school is not the end-all be-all and that there is a whole, great big world outside of North Meck. And enjoy your time there, but understand that you have a life after and it will all be okay. 

Elise Aldridge: It’s gonna suck and you hate it. You’re gonna cry. And, honestly, cry and get out all those emotions. But you’re gonna be free, so take the advantages that you have now. Take the resources that you have now, because you might not have them in the future. And having a high school education, even if it’s not IB, is going to help you in the future with your jobs, or just getting the upper hand on a stupid person. So [...] it sucks, but it’s going to be, honestly, the best time. [...] Education-wise, it’s going to be the best. So do your work. 

Mary-Lang Regen: Make the decision best for you. There is always a job out there. There is always a support system for you. There’s always all of these things. If you don’t choose a job or a career opportunity for you, then you’re missing out on who you truly are. You know, some people will choose to go to college, but that’s not the only opportunity after high school. There’s going and doing a trade school or going and studying and doing research, or there’s going and volunteering somewhere, or even working at home to save up money and then going and doing something. I think we’re in a time where there’s a lot of pressure from people around us to do one thing or another. And at the end of the day, the choice is yours. [...] If it makes you happy, if it puts people in your life that make you happy, then it’s worth it. 

Lydia Jin: Definitely try your best. Your grades and everything, that does matter for what college you go to. So, try your best, but also it’s important to have fun. [...] Moments of high school such as prom or hanging out with your friends at football games, just take advantage of all of that. [...] I feel like I was stressed out a lot, so just try to have fun more often. 

Special thanks to everyone who participated in these interviews. 🆅