In about 15 days, the decade will end. Crazy, right? A decade is kind of a long time, especially to high schoolers, who have lived the majority of their lives in the past ten years. As a way to get people to think about the end of the decade, I asked students and faculty to reflect on their favorite memories from the decade and their visions for the next.

Subfreshmen

Miranda Burgos

My most memorable experience was… when my sister was born, but I remember very little about it.

I hope to… go to college. And since I like writing a lot, it’d be cool to have something published, even if it’s like a short story.

Taehan Lee

My favorite memory is… when I went snorkeling in Australia. It was cold and scary.

I want to… go to a good college and not be a loser. I also hope that Santa’s real.

 Yelim Kim

Nathaniel Weisbrook

My most memorable experience was… when my sister was born.

I hope that… everything with the world will get better, but it probably won’t.

Freshmen

Leo Maurer

My most memorable experience was… making the “Polygamy chat” and meeting my friends at Uni.

I hope… to be happy.

Zoya Ahmed

My favorite memory was… getting into Uni because I met a lot of my friends here.

I hope that… I will be able to do a cartwheel, pass a math test without getting any R’s, and go to Hawaii.

Eli Khuri-Erid

My most memorable experience was… when my family friends won the lottery and gave my family some of the money.

I hope to… get into a good college.

Clara Wood

My most memorable experience was… living in Australia for a year.

I hope for… lots of money.

Sophomores

Cadi Hu

My favorite memories were… going to Spain, meeting new friends, and starting sports like track.

I want to… become a morning person, get more sleep, and get closer to my friends. Just more growth overall.

Andy Brown

My favorite memory was… going to Hawaii for vacation.

I hope to… go to college, get a decent job, and then do something that I enjoy.

Rithika Patnam

My most memorable experience was… in elementary school where the purpose was to have a fun time and not be successful.

I hope to… figure out the one thing I’m going to do in life, focus on that, and not have to worry about other stuff.

Zhaohan Sun

My favorite memory was… I don’t have a favorite memory. Every morning when I wake up is my favorite memory.

I hope that… the climate issues will be fixed, the world will become one unified global nation, and technology becomes better.

Juniors

Zachary Donnini

My most memorable experience was… when the Cubs won the World Series.

I hope to… get into the colleges I want.

Allie Kim

My most memorable experience was… one week where I went to a BTS concert on Tuesday and my first Michigan football game in the Michigan Stadium that Saturday.

I hope that… I’ll have a job and won’t be broke and something will be done about climate change since ten years isn’t that long.

Maher Adoni

My most memorable experience was… going to watch Avengers: Endgame the night before a Japanese exam, which explains my performance in that class.

I hope to… become successful enough to be happy, but I don’t expect anything though.

Raneem Saadah

My most memorable experiences were… visiting my family in Jordan since I hadn’t seen them in ten years, and I didn’t really know them but we bonded and connected really well.

I expect to… get married and hopefully start a family. I’m also expecting society to change a lot in the next in its perspectives and ideas.

Seniors

Mary Walker

My favorite memories were… with my high school sports teams and traveling with my family, especially to Europe and Asia and

I hope to… graduate from college and high school, go into medical school. I hope for a new experience in which I learn more about myself.

David Sun

My most memorable experience was… my birthday sophomore year. I celebrated with Brandon by going to Chicago and watching a Chicago Fire soccer match.

I hope to… have a fun college experience, first find a “young person job”, like coding. I would also like to travel and have a relationship that will turn into a marriage. Then I’d like to find an “older person job” that can sustain me and my future family.

Faizah Rauther

My most memorable experience was… the time when Gangnam style was a really big thing and people would randomly break out in dance.

I hope to… see people grow up and find their place in the world, and find my place in the world since a lot of us are going to become adults in the next decade.

Sasha Rushing

My most memorable experience was… getting to go back to Russia this summer was really good.

I expect to… go to college and from there I don’t really know.

Teachers

Mr. Garvey

My most memorable experience was… having four grandchildren. It changed me from a younger guy to a grandfather, which I like.

I expect to… retire, but I’m unsure when exactly. I think it will give me and my wife more chances to travel and expand my horizons.

Mrs. Buhnerkempe

My most memorable experiences were… getting married and having my first son.

I expect to… have a family of four and take the boys to Disneyworld. I love spending time with my family, so I just want to be with them.

Mr. Beesley

My most memorable experiences were… celebrating after the Cubs won the World Series and stopping coaching so I can watch my kids play and see other events.

I expect to… retire, go on vacations with my wife, have a couple of family weddings, maybe a grandchild. I hope the WAC lab gets new chairs and that my office floor gets replaced so I don’t die sooner than I usually would from asbestos poisoning.

Ms. Smyser

My favorite memory is… having my baby and coming back to my hometown, Champaign, in 2015. And I absolutely adore teaching at Uni.

I hope for… a lot more ExploraVision wins and to be a millionaire. I look forward to watching my first Uni class (2022) graduate.

Now that you’ve heard from some Uni members, I recommend that you take some time and reflect on your own memories. You never know what enough thinking will bring you to remember. See you in the next decade!