From Lamar to College: Freshman’s Reflection on Life After High School

As the class of 2025 is relieved that the first half of school is finished and is preparing for the journey back home for the holidays, they begin to reflect on how much high school has shaped and benefited them. Lamar High School has created an extraordinary sanctuary that has strengthened and grown students into the passionate and intelligent people they are today. With the winter season coming around and everyone thrilled for their Christmas plans, Lamar’s alumni come home from their scattered colleges and give us insight into their first semester experiences and how Lamar has made an impact on them.

Lamar High School’s mission is to watch their students thrive in college by giving them every opportunity available. They create a safe and nurturing environment and have endless options for extracurricular activities and an outstanding IB program. This wide window of possibilities is what has set up our alumni for success in college and the start of their remarkable journeys in life.

Everyone can come to the conclusion that the shift from high school to college can be nerve-racking and a hard change, but also a new sense of liberty and independence. Sophia Icsezen, a Lamar alumna and now a freshman at the University of Chicago, informs us of her true opinion of college and the transformation into it. “The workload was absolutely much bigger and more challenging, but the programs provided at Lamar, like TOK, made the change so much smoother, allowing me to easily excel in all of my classes.”

Sophia Icsezen posing for her senior pictures showing off her UChicago merchandise. (Photo: Cady Photography)

However, academics are not the only thing that Lamar reinforced and strengthened. Lamar sparked young roots to grow in individuals as they found their true passion, spotlighting their major for college. Wesley Taaffe, a Lamar alumni and freshman at the University of Texas at Austin, tells us how Lamar was the start of finding herself and what she loved to do. “When joining Lamar Life and discovering my passion to be a part of a writing publication, I was able to not only grow in my writing capabilities but also fuel my desire to be a journalist. That would never have been able to be accomplished without the help of Lamar.”

As these Lamar alumni navigate themselves through college, their stories make it clear that their high school experiences are the prime reason they have flourished in college. Lamar High School has provided resilience, ambition, curiosity, and intelligence in thousands of students, and they will continue to show off Lamar’s good name.