From the start, the graduating class of 2024 has been special. This year’s seniors experienced their freshman year over Zoom due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Despite being the smallest class with 86 total students on campus, its members have cultivated life-long friendships and irreplaceable bonds with each other.
Brianna Barragan ‘24 appreciates the mall class of this year’s graduating class not only for the close friendships she’s made, but also for the academic advantage.
“The smallest class I had was with seven people in Mr. Bernstein’s English III. As the year went on, all of us felt more comfortable expressing our thoughts in the discussion circle or even helping each other revise our essays,” Barragan said.
But despite the academic advantage, Siena Londono ‘24 sometimes wishes that there were more members in the class of 2024.
“Our class may be more cliquey com- pared to other grades,” Londono said, connecting this cliqueness to the small class size.
Barragan, however, maintains that these cliques have in great part been broken down over the past several months thanks to the girls’ shared experience of being seniors. .
“Some of the girls who are in different “groups” have a celebratory dinner after a hard test or [at the end of] the year,” Barragan said. “Even though I’m not close with everyone in my class, I feel like everyone is comfortable going up to anyone outside and inside of class.”
Being a member of such a small class does have its downsides, especially when it’s compared to the 110-member sophomore class.
“I see this [size] difference when we are at assembly. The senior class has almost three quarters of the bleachers filled when the sophomores have to have extra seats. Also, the sophomores are way louder during spirit rallies and the Alma Mater,” Barragan said. “I know our class has a lot of spirit but we can’t really compete with numbers.”
Not only does the senior section in the gym include empty seats, so does the Senior Patio. In past years, which boasted senior classes of 98, 101 and 105 students, both areas were packed.
But despite the drawbacks, over the last four years the seniors have been able to bond with each other in many ways through classes, sports, retreats, theater and so much more. They maintain that they cherish and value these memories of connecting with their fellow classmates.
“One of my favorite memories was the sophomore retreat,” Barragan said.
“This the first major retreat coming from COVID. At night we were all writ- ing letters to ourselves and one by one we all started crying. After that we did the surprise candle-giving ceremony which made everyone cry even more. I felt a wave of support and warmth from everyone that I can’t describe.”
Londono had a similar experience on the sophomore retreat.
“My two favorite moments that have really brought our class together was the candle lighting ceremony during our sophomore retreat and the field games we played during our Kairos retreat,” Londono said.
