Clay Carson

Opening up the envelope that contained his grades from his first semester of freshman year, senior Clay Carson was ecstatic to see the string of bold A’s on the piece of paper he held. To him, it was an encouraging sign that he had the potential to succeed in high school despite previously feeling quite daunted.

To Carson, one of the most exciting things about entering high school as a freshman was being part of a larger community. As a student at Kennedy Middle School, he often felt as though the student body was small – but now he was excited to be surrounded by more students and gain access to more opportunities.

One of Carson’s favorite memories from senior year includes Youth Orchestra, which he says allows him to have a lot more experiences than he did freshman year and has also allowed him to meet new people and grow as a person. He claims that the orchestra’s four concerts during the year serve as the culmination for the work that he puts into preparing for the shows.

Carson also says that the extracurricular activities he participated in have pushed him to become more outgoing and social, something he struggled with as a freshman. His speaking-based activities, such as Speech, Mock Trial and Drama have helped him grow.

“In freshman year, I was a lot more introverted and I didn’t interact with as many people,” Carson said. “But trying more opportunities encouraged me to branch out more and push myself out of my comfort zone. High school has shown me that I can do both — I can have fun doing it and I’ll be more confident than I was when I started high school.”