What a year it has been! The Class of 2024 has now graduated and is off to start their incredible adult life journey. As a bittersweet ending, this is, I have gathered about 40 student interviews from the Class of 2024 to highlight their favorite SOHS memories, plans for the future, and reflections on their high school experience. The culmination of the SOHS experience is all encapsulated and expressed through these thoughtful responses from our now most recent Alumni!

To start, the majority of students interviewed were Full-time (89.5%) while 10.5% were Single-Course students.

Now, let’s learn about where these new graduates are going! Many shared they plan on attending a 4-year university while others are considering a gap year.

However, before we look to the future, let us take a moment to learn about the past, the past these graduates shared, and their favorite classes. Many students shared that the core classes were the best: LCD, MSB, HSC, DFRL, and CRA. Some students loved the electives like landscape drawing, Legal Studies (the mock oral arguments were Aston Davies' (‘24) favorite!), and Study of the Mind! Some students enjoyed history classes like APUSH or Advanced History; others enjoyed STEM-based classes (OASTR with Ms. Tock for David Ngyuen) like Astrophysics Research Seminar, Intro to Quantum Computing, Neuroscience, and Modern Physics–a testament to the wide range of courses SOHS offers! The special moments shared in these sections are a highlight for many of these graduates. Benjamin Johnson recounts the “First day of DFRL with Dr. Rees and the best core section at OHS” as his favorite memory.

Beyond gaining connections and fun memories, many students discovered they were profoundly impacted after taking these classes. Maria Lim (‘24) declares, “HSC changed my life. I came out of that class a different person.” Similarly, Ken Mueller states: “Dr. D'Urso's Data Science class made me rethink how I think about things. The moment I learned about combining new information with prior beliefs to get posterior beliefs, I became hooked on Bayesian statistics.” Grace Rutherford said her favorite class was: “DFRL with Dr. Rees. This class entirely changed my worldview and my life. It was a turning point in my high school journey.”

For Shelley Li, the best times were the “English lit discussions at 8:30 in the morning, core with Dr. Hicks, S@S, and (of course) finals week.” Yanai Wang (‘24) shares, “AP Lang was probably one of the most enthralling classes I've ever taken, both within and without OHS! I'm not a morning person - like, AT all - but this early morning class drove me to scramble off from bed every Tues/Wed at 7 am (which roughly equates to midnight in my time zone), turn on my camera, and gather within myself the most sprightliness gatherable to debate and disentangle world literature. From historical perspectivism to Iranian feminism to Foucaudian panopticism, I journeyed to some of the most invigorating intellectual destinations and, most importantly, created unquenchable friendships with some of the most beautiful souls I've ever met within my 4-year high school career.” The students of SOHS value the critical thinking and thoughtful discussions held in Adobe Connect!

Other fun memories for students were spirit week and in-person SOHS gatherings like Summer@Stanford and Graduation Weekend! Fiona Lee (‘24) loved “Graduation last year… because I finally got to meet long-time friends in person and meet many other SOHSers." Taro Arthur d’Aronville said: “My favorite memory is DJing at S@S in 2022 - it was amazing to see how I could take part in a larger musical story and everyone enjoyed the night”. A heartwarming union of students across the globe!

Another beloved memory Dave Walters (‘24) holds near and dear to his heart is the early days of the Pixel Cafe! For Lydia Aluko (‘24), it was “ranking Disney princesses in one of the Sophomore class meetings.”

For others, choosing a specific memory was overwhelming--concluding the entirety of their OHS experience as their favorite. Sabine Mazzeo rhetorically remarked, “Essentially all the classes? All the people at SOHS have made everything such a great experience.”

The Class of 2024 is taking on the globe this upcoming fall; with students attending university in the UK throughout the U.S. amongst 13 states! Similarly, there is a wide range of intended majors—Computer Science to English to Pre-Vet Animal Science! (For further details on which universities they plan on attending and their intended major, please refer to the college maps created!)

It is official; these Pixels have graduated and their SOHS high school experience is over. So what do these graduates have in store for the future? What is fueling their budding exhilaration? What are they excited about?

Many shared that they are thrilled to take on their new adult college life, grow in a new city, meet new people, continue pursuing their learning passions, and engage in campus life like activism, dining halls, having a roommate, and clubs! Some are excited to challenge themselves in their new environment while others are excited to take on a lighter workload! Grace Rutherford is particularly thrilled to experience “feeling the soft breeze and sunny rays of California” as she is from the East Coast. A few students mentioned being eager to pursue a visual art program in person. For example, Jiayun Zhang (‘24) is excited to “work on set for the first time on a multicam live TV broadcast! Similarly, Damian Reeve Wilson (‘24) is enthusiastic about “further exploring physics research at Caltech and national labs while pursuing my interests in the humanities—I’m part of an original musical, Earth Data, that premieres in November for the PST Art: Art & Science Collide festival!” These are all amazing activities, programs, and events to look forward to. However, some students were troubled when faced with this question, only describing a blend of feeling scared and excited! Ethan Yun (‘24) said, “I don’t know, which is pretty exciting.”

The next few months will be full of new experiences, opportunities, and relationships for the Class of 2024. They will spread their wings and take every challenge head-on with an attitude of passion and curiosity.

Congratulations and good luck to the Class of 2024!