BY MADDY FURDEK
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I can still remember the thrilling nervousness that coursed through my body the first day I met Roseville High School’s Class of 2016.
It was a hot August day, a week before school would officially begin and the entire incoming freshman class had been corralled into the gym to get a jump start on bonding with our future peers. I was excited.

While I, of course, recognized plenty of my friends from junior high, I was eager to get to know the hundreds of other faces I had never seen before.
The notion that in just four short years we would all be young adults on our way to the real world exhilarated me – we had the potential to become anyone we wanted to be in high school. There were endless paths ahead, and I was anxious to watch our class blossom into the best class to ever pass through RHS’s timeless campus.

However, it didn’t take long for this idealistic and, quite frankly, overly zealous dream to prove difficult to achieve. Yes, we were the freshman class, and there were initial difficulties meshing our diversity into one tight-knit group – but even after these passed, we simply seemed to lack the chemistry the other classes regularly displayed.

Now, don’t misinterpret message here, as this isn’t an article to lay blame on my class for our label as an apathetic or unsuccessful class; in fact, I’ve always appreciated our lack of cliques and excessive drama that other classes had. I strongly believe, and think a majority do recognize, that our class holds some of the brightest minds, dedicated individuals and charismatic personalities to attend RHS in decades.

However, I feel that the negative reputation that has haunted the class of 2016 throughout our high school journey is simply inaccurate.

I can remember being in PE my freshman year and hearing the upperclassmen telling us, “Man, your class is the worst!” I can’t count how many times I’ve had staff members tell me something like “It’s just that you’ve got a bad group of kids in the Class of 2016. We knew that from the start.”

While I initially believed these jabs at our class chemistry, I eventually began to realize that our lackluster reputation did not truly define our class. Time went on, people matured and I began to appreciate the people whom I had grown up with.

Maybe we didn’t cheer the loudest at rallies, but when we shuffled in a crowded to our designated spot on the bleachers in Moeller gym, we crammed together with no judgements for each other.

We didn’t have cliques, we didn’t have glaringly obvious drama and we didn’t seem to outcast anybody from our enormous group.

In reality, the Class of 2016 holds many incredible individuals. I’ve meet friends whom I will cherish for a lifetime as well as peers who inspire me so greatly through their dedication and originality.

We are a talented, accepting and friendly group of people – and although we may have never been the Brady Bunch family everyone wanted, I’ve seen time and time again we cheer each other on in our moments of triumph, and defend each other when we are down.

If I could give any word of advice to incoming classes, it would be this – don’t pay attention to what others may say about you and your peers. Instead, you and your classmates should try to keep an open mind; appreciate the people you’ve grown up with, pick them up when they’re down and enjoy your four years at high school, regardless of what your class’ label may be.

Your focus should be on the individuals in your class, because at the end of the day, that’s what really matters.

You won’t walk away from high school remembering how many class competitions you won, but instead, the people who sat in the stands and cheered with you.