The start of the end. 

Senior Sunrise is held for the sole intention of signifying the start of the final year of high school. And I won’t lie and say that this tradition is pointless, it in fact is extremely impactful, which is why I believe freshmen should have their own sunrise. As a senior myself, my class and I have already gone through some of the toughest battles to get to where we are now. We are nearing the end of this chapter, not the beginning. Sunrises signify the start of life, the start of a new journey, just like how freshman year signifies the start of high school.

Though I understand the concept of the tradition, it doesn’t have an extreme impact. This moment is meant to amplify the jubilation of reaching one’s final year of high school, a moment to reflect on all of the events and issues that brought you to where you are now. 

I won’t say that this isn’t a rousing tradition. While scrolling through my Instagram feed, I could see an abundance of newly rising seniors sitting in the field with dazed looks in their eyes as they basked in the glory of their new title. The question isn’t whether or not Senior Sunrise is a tradition worth keeping, but rather: is it the only tradition that we should have? 

At the beginning of the school year, I saw that same dazed expression in freshmen’s eyes as they walked onto their campus for the first time. Becoming a freshman is nerve-racking; it’s like walking into an entirely new world. Not only are you faced with brand new surroundings, along with harder classes and more intense expectations from your teachers, but you also are thrown into an environment with people who you have never met before.

Becoming a freshman is one of the most vigorous processes to go through. You are now entering one of the hardest stages of your life, which is why there should be a Freshman Sunrise. It would be an event to mark the start of your high school career –  the beginning of harder tests, PSATs and SATs, and finally, college applications. You are now opening an entirely new book in this series we call life. When I was a freshman, I would have loved to experience something like that and my parents would have wanted me to attend. 

I’m not saying to let one tradition die and another to be born. I think it’s a good idea to keep the original tradition alive and also introduce the new one. However, if the only option was to have one or the other, I will happily pull an O’Hare and say “Let it die,” because freshmen deserve their own sunrise.