"For some students, they have just begun, but for others, this is their last year with OSA. I have interviewed three students from the Literary Arts department, and had them answer some questions about their experience with OSA, how they feel about graduating, and overall has OSA prepared them for this?"--Piper stuip, 6th grade
First I interviewed Sunari Weaver-Anderson, to see how she felt about graduating, and if she thought she was prepared. Weaver-Anderson says that she does not think that OSA prepared her for graduating. Saying that graduating was an “afterthought” until you reach your senior year.
PS: This year you will write a senior book, do you have any plans for it? If you have already started, how do you feel about it?
SW: Yes, I have already started it, we start basically as soon as school starts, and I feel a little nervous, It’s a lot to write a whole manuscript in a semester. But I’m excited. Y’know, it’s like a combination of everything you work on while you’re in the department. So yeah, a little bit of nervousness, but I’m also excited.
PS: Who or what inspired you to write?
SW: Probably my family, and my family history, my family has lived in the bay area for a century, like coming from France, and Louisiana, so I think there are a lot of stories there that I have been able to tap into.
PS: What do you plan on doing after graduation?
SW: That’s a big question, I plan on going to college, I mean I don’t really find out where I’m going until spring, I’m applying to fifteen schools though, so hopefully one of those!
PS: Do you have a goal for this year?
SW: To maintain my excitement, and not let my stress let me forget what drives me to work hard.
PS: How do you feel about leaving OSA, do you feel disappointed that this is your last year with OSA?
SW: Yes and no… I’ve been here since middle school, and I think that it’s a good time to leave, because I feel like I’ve been here a long time, and I can’t stay forever, so I feel like I've been here and I’ve enjoyed the opportunities, and I’ve seen what there is to see at OSA. So yeah, I think I'm ready to go.
PS: What do you think college will be like
SW: I think it depends on what kind of college, like what I’ll be applying to. I want to go to a liberal arts college. Which means that the class sizes will be small, It’s kind of like how literary is set up actually, y’know, it will be discussion based classes, where you are engaging with your professor, and with the students, so I'm hoping that I'll have a community of people who are curious about various things.
PS: Cool! Where are you applying to college? Do you feel like OSA prepared you?
SW: Yes… And no. So yeah, I’m applying to 15 schools, I do not think OSA has prepared us, only because I feel like college for OSA students, is an afterthought, until you’re a senior, and then it’s kind of too late to start doing all that work.
PS: And for the last question. Anything else you would want me to know?
SW: Do as much work and planning, and research (mainly research) as you can before you’re a senior. I feel like I didn’t even know what colleges I wanted to do, until august of my junior year, which is REALLY late, it makes things a lot more stressful, so definitely as much research as possible.
I then Interviewed Avynn Stanley. Stanley talks about how she is hoping to get a teaching degree so that she can teach kindergarten. She also says that the idea of college doesn’t stress her out.
PS: This year you will write a senior book, do you have any plans for it? if you have already started, how do you feel about it?
AS: So, I do have plans for it, i’m pretty well into it so far, im going to be putting a collection of poems that ive written between 2017 to 2019. I’m writing about three new essays, one about music, one of my favorite bands is Fleetwood Mac, I’m writing an essay about my grandfather who passed away when I was four, and I’m writing an essay about all the women in my family that have had a large impact in who I am.
Most of the poems kind of stand through me talking about my sexuality and my race, how they both play a really huge part in who I am. And yeah I'm pretty excited for it!
PS: What do you plan on doing after college?
AS: After graduation, I hope that I get into any of the 17 schools I’m applying to, and I plan on majoring in early childhood education, so hopefully within that, then I’ll get a teacher credential and be a kindergarten teacher!
PS: Cool! Do you have a goal for this year?
AS: My goal for this last year would just be to make everything I do count. I think being that I've been here for so long, I kinda just let the years go by and not really do anything that was… I guess memorable, if that makes sense… I started in 6th grade, I’m a senior now, It wasn’t really given that I'd be here for so long… I didn’t think that anything I was doing had a purpose, I just thought that i’de just do well in class, keep taking tests, keep being in my emphasis, then go home. I think i’ve waited a really long time to actually care... so, I just wanna be able to hang out with a lot of people, make sure i’m still taking care of my grades, writing as much as possible, getting as much help, forming relationships… just really experiencing my senior year, because I won't be in high school anymore…
PS: Where are you applying to college? Do you feel like OSA prepared you?
AS: I’m applying to four UC’s, so UCLA, UC Riverside, UC Santa Cruz, and UC Santa Barbara. And then I’m applying to three CSU schools, Northridge, LA, and Sacramento. And then just a couple of other schools; Boston, Hampton University, Clark Atlanta, NYU, Saint Johns University. A lot everywhere pretty much! Arizona State… but yeah, I’m pretty excited, but I think my top choices would have to be UCLA, and Northridge. I’m not really set on one school, I just think if I got into one of those it would be cool, but I’m not really, you know… Stressed about it. I’m gonna end up where I need to be.
PS: Is there anything else you want me to know?
AS: I think anyone who ends up reading this article that goes to OSA, or doesn’t that is not a senior yet, I think when it comes to your senior year, allow yourself to make mistakes, allow yourself to learn, allow yourself to be present, I think that a lot of people think that when it’s your senior year, you have to be super duper serious, and only focus on college, and only worry about your grades, don’t hang out with people, don’t go to parties, “don’t do THIS”, “and don’t do THAT!” I think that is what stops you from leaving this school that you’ve been at with a positive experience. I think when you graduate and you realize that you only did the stuff that I guess “matters” you miss out on a lot of things, I think there’s definitely a way to balance everything, there is definitely a way to still have fun, and there’s a way to still focus on everything. So I think making sure that you know your boundaries with yourself, that you know how much you can do, how much you can’t do, I mean sometimes taking AP classes just isn't for you, and that’s ok!
I think just making sure that you stick to who YOU are.
Next, I interviewed Justin Walton. Walton talks about how he has lived in Oakland all his life, but is excited to see new places, and transition into adulthood.
PS: This year you will write a senior book, do you have any plans for it? if you have already started, how do you feel about it?
JW: Yes! I’m writing a senior book, my book is a fusion of poetry, fiction, and song. I feel pretty good about it right now. I have a whole concept for it already, I started thinking about what I was going to do over the summer, then once I got to my first class of senior year, I knew what I wanted to do, so I was able to structure pretty well because I had an idea on what I was going to do for my book, so yeah, right now I’m in the process of writing it, yeah. It hasn’t been too bad, somedays of course I have writer's block, just like any other writer. Someday I can knock out a lot of pages which is good.
PS: Who or what inspired you to write?
JW: My cousin, Javad jackson when I was in the second grade he passed away, and he was very into spoken words, and hip hop, uplifting with his community, and that's what inspired me to kind of do the same, kind of just uplift my own community, and kind of continue on what he left, also… like Kendrick Lamar, really inspires me, and Lauryn Hill… yeah!
PS: How do you feel about leaving OSA, do you feel disappointed that this is your last year with OSA?
JW: A little bit of mixed feelings… like I’m excited to go off to a new place, and start all fresh, and learn, and just see other areas, cause I've been oakland all my life, so I really wanna go out to other cities, and just see how other cities are. So I'm excited to go and pursue what I love. And go to school for what I love to do. And ALSO leaving OSA it’s been… Like i’ve really felt like part of a family here at OSA, and I feel like there's a really strong community, with a lot of teachers, and a lot of friends, and a lot of... people! so leaving OSA is also a little sad but I’m also happy that i’m going to my next mission!
PS: What do you think college will be like?
JW: I think college will be harder, a little harder, but I think it's gonna be… like i’m going to like it more than all the other grades, just because I’m going to be focusing on what I love to do, and so it’s going to be more likable, I think, Because like I said im going to be able to focus on what I love to do. It’s going to definitely make me more independent because I'll be on my own, away from my family, and being away from a lot of my friends so learning how to navigate adulthood is gonna definitely make me be a stronger person.
PS: Where are you applying to college? Do you feel like OSA prepared you?
JW: So I’m applying to Columbia Chicago, NYU, The New School, Sacramento State, San Francisco state, Cal state, yeah those were all the top schools.
Although I only interviewed seniors from the Literary Arts department, it gives you a sense of how seniors are feeling about their final year with OSA. We get to see how THEY feel about the big transition from a highschooler to an adult.
Edited by Holly Young, and Jayden Baasansuren.
Cover image:
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