Hailey Sloan and Tamara McConnell

Writers

Entering into the new decade, many people take the opportunity to set goals, and the students and staff at Marlow High School are no exception.

The term 20/20 is often referred to as the phrase “perfect vision”, and with hopes of that vision for the new school year, members of the MHS staff and student body were asked how they envision different perspectives of their futures.

Creating a safe atmosphere for students to continue to build their future at MHS, principal Bryan Brantley explained his hopes and ideas for the new school year.

“As far as my goals go, I would love for our students to have better attendance and higher achievement,” said Brantley. “These are some things that are at least measurable that we can look at, but the main goal is to prepare our students for a better and brighter future, and whether they pursue CareerTech, the work force, or college, we want to make sure their futures are secured.”

Brantley further explained the significance of being at school on time and the skills students could gain over the course of the year.

“I think that sometimes students and parents don’t understand the importance of being here everyday possible. There are lessons the students learn that don’t have anything to do with homework or a test grade,” said Brantley. “Students can learn the value of showing up to a job on time or develop better communication skills just by being at school.”

Following Brantley’s hopes for MHS, students began looking into potential future careers and starting new paths for themselves.

“Building Better Futures” at MHS, junior Lane Johnson explained his plans for the new decade.

“My vision for 2020 is to try and establish what I want to do in my life,” said Johnson. “I want to figure out what I’m doing with my life by looking into colleges and finding what is for me.”

While some students have created life long goals, others have set short-term ambitions as they strive for greatness.

Coming back from break, freshman Kenzie Retherford described how she plans to continue to grow and gain positivity within herself.

“My vision is to have more joy and be more confident in 2020,” said Retherford. “I plan to achieve my vision for this year by ignoring what other people think of me and focusing on bettering myself.”

Entering the second semester of school, students are beginning to focus on becoming more disciplined in their daily lives, while others are taking time to maintain their agenda over the new year.

Focusing on making her senior year as stress-free as possible, senior Aurelia Holguin explained the skill of balancing time wisely.

“I need to make sure I take baby steps and not overestimate the amount of time I have in a day,” said Aurelia. “I will make time to sit down and prepare new ideas and experiences.”

As some students are trying to achieve mindfulness in their life after high school, others are beginning to plan their career opportunities by making career conscious decisions.

Junior Elena Holguin hopes to pursue a profession as a medi-flight nurse and described how being fit is an important factor for her path.

“One bad habit I want to break is not not making healthy choices,” said Elena. “I want to be the healthiest version of myself so I can take that further into my career.”

With new goals comes new choices, and as the year continues, new opportunities will begin and students will continue to work to resolve them.