Celebrating Martin Luther King Jr., waiting for those college acceptances

January at Lawrence Woodmere Academy is loaded with activities. It begins with a sacred tradition that our school has: to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Students in grades pre-K through 12th gather in Hessel Hall — LWA’s auditorium — to celebrate the legacy of such an honorable man.

The assembly is run by two of LWA’s upper school teachers — Michelle Cicillini (English) and Margaret Tucker (math). Together they work to find students to assist in representing the hero himself, and this year they did just that. Junior Tyler Haynes said that it was “wonderful to see people of different races/ethnicities/backgrounds come together to participate in a beautiful ceremony that celebrates diversity and unity.”

One week after the MLK assembly comes mid-term exams. Dreaded by most, the mid-term tests bring vigorous studying and nights of flashcard-making. Students collect notes trying to recall material from September. Through this process we truly understand the importance of knowledge. The material remains fresh in the mind.

Immediately after mid-term exams, our second semester begins, which means that we are half way to the day that I walk across a stage along with my fellow classmates. We are the class of 2019. At Lawrence Woodmere Academy, the class of 2019 consists of 30 students. Some of us grew up together, but there are others who owe their best friendships to LWA.

We all came from different towns, and for some of us even different countries, but together we are one, and the sense of unity is always strong. One very important question lingers: “Where are you going to college?” This is something every senior hears at least once a day; if they aren’t being asked by someone else, then they are asking themselves.

The uncertainty is what panics students. Decisions need to be made, and they need to be made soon. A ritual that we have at LWA is that when seniors start hearing back from colleges, our college guidance counselor, Susan Lettieri, displays the logos of the schools where the students in our class have been accepted. When our classmates get accepted into a college we celebrate together. But the day when we get the certainty we have been looking for, a new chapter in our story will begin, while another one closes, and it will be here before I know it.