Editor’s note: The Reporter staff requested that the principals of each of the high schools in our coverage area select two seniors to answer this question: What is the purpose of high school? Six students provided us with six very different answers.

Here are the graduates’ answers from Kentwood High.

By Tiegan Heald

High school is an important milestone in life with many purposes to it.

Over time, I have realized the many purposes high school has as well as the significance of each purpose.

When you think of high school the common answer is high school is nothing more than preparing us for college and further schooling and, while it does academically prepare us, it serves as a place where life lessons are learned and unforgettable experiences happen.

The countless hours I have spent writing papers, deciphering Shakespeare and doing mass amounts of math problems have academically prepared me for the future and the ability to be successful in college, but high school is so much more than focusing on academics.

High school is the place where you become yourself. You start defining who you are, what your morals and values are, and what type of person you want to become in the future. Starting as a freshman, I came into high school very unsure of where I wanted to go with my life, and what I wanted to do in my future.

As a senior, and with the guidance and help from my teachers and mentors, I now have started to make a defined path for my future. High school served as a place where I could venture out, where I could test the waters and try new things and see if I liked them or not. High school is a place where I became an individual. Over the course of my four short years at Kentwood, I have become my own person.

I am able to make decisions on my own and am able to think for myself. High school has taught me the importance of listening to other people’s ideas and valuing their opinions, but to still stay true to my beliefs and values because at the end of the day I have to live with the decisions I made.

I have been taught that procrastination is an enemy, not a friend, and the importance of time management.

I have learned how to push myself to try things I once thought impossible from AP classes, to nailing those difficult turn combos in dance, to stepping out of my comfort zone and trying something new. High school has taught me the importance of building relationships with teachers, other staff, and students.

Since I am able to successfully build those relationships I now know that high school has prepared me to be able to successfully build those relationships in college and in a work environment.

Over my last four years at Kentwood, I have learned that the purpose of school is so much more than academics. High school is a place where you become the individual you were created to be and where you learn lessons you will take with you wherever you go in the future.

Tiegan Heald is a member of Kentwood High’s class of 2012.

By Amandeep Singh

Albert Einstein once said, “Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school”. When I read this quote for the first time I thought to myself, down the line in life I am not going to remember half of the things that I learned in high school. Things like the quadratic formula, the atomic mass of oxygen and even laws such as the “law of sines” do not seem like they would apply to me at all later in life. After thinking about the quote I realized that Einstein really meant that life is the biggest teacher and education that we as students are presented with.

The lessons that we take away from life are far greater then the lessons we take away from a chemistry or math book.

Coming into high school I was the type of kid that thought that my books were my best friends and that my books would take me somewhere in life. I was not involved with my school and looked down upon leadership. It was not until sophomore year that I realized that the books that I admired so much were written by great leaders and the person that was helping me interpret the book also had great leadership characteristics.

I am now involved in ASB, Conk Crew, leadership class and I was a member of my high schools Cross Country and Track team for three years.

If I were to get into a fight in high school I would be suspended for a good 15 days. On top of that suspension I would receive several talks from the staff of my high school on why getting into fights is not a good thing and how it influences my future negatively.

If I was to get into that same fight after high school I would get thrown into prison and have “criminal” written into my records for the remainder of my life. What I am saying is that high school shapes us into better human beings.

High school teaches us what is right and what is wrong in life.

The purpose of high school is to shape us into better human beings.

A high school that expects it’s students to come into high school and read a book from day one to the end is building robots; robots that will come out of high school clueless about how society runs and they will not have any ideas or thoughts of their own.

A school that gives its students the opportunity of getting involved with clubs, ASB, leadership class and sports is training the leaders of the future, leaders that will go forth and serve society in various fields.

Mahatma Gandhi once said “literary education is of no value, if it is not able to build up a sound character”.

The purpose of high school is to build help students mature and build “sound characters” amongst themselves. High school prepares its students for their future.

Amandeep Singh is a member of Kentwood High School’s class of 2012.