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Julianna P., Class of 2017, shares her Ranney experience through a letter to the Freshman class. 

Julianna P.

Class of 2017

Senior Julianna P. writes a letter to the Freshman class...

Coming into this year as a senior, the realization that I actually made it and that I am almost at the end of my Upper School career took a few days to hit me. I should have recognized that something about being at school just felt different. For some reason, every day felt like a Friday. Every day felt like I was almost at the end and then a whole new chapter awaited me. This realization hit me like a ton of bricks after Convocation and I finally put on my vest. For three straight years, every September, I played in the orchestra and watched as the seniors of classes past were vested, but it seemed so far away before it would be me up there one day.

When I was a freshman, every day did not feel like a Friday. In truth, the feeling was closer to a perpetual Monday, the beginning of an uphill battle for which there was, it felt, no end. Not that I wasn’t excited for Upper School. I came out of middle school wide eyed and with a pile of hopeful misconceptions, but it was definitely a daunting proposition. Four years is, in reality, a short period of time, especially considering that people are living to 120 nowadays, but when you are actually living through it, four years can feel like a lifetime and in a very real, very fundamental way, a lifetime is what it is.

The person I was when I entered Upper School has changed as I have grown up, experienced new things and witnessed the world change around me. In many ways, my senior self feels almost unrecognizable to my younger 8th grade self.
The greatest reason for this? My academic and intellectual abilities have grown exponentially and what originally seemed like the monumental task of finding a college that fit ME best, now feels like the most natural process in the world.

Things that once felt daunting and new and insurmountable – making new friends, parting ways with old friends, choosing to take challenging courses and preparing for the next stage – now feels like par for the course. I know it’s cliche to say that Upper School is a journey, but there are few other stereotypes more accurate than that one. 

So here is my promise to you. I promise you that you will make it through Upper School and that senior year isn’t as far away as it may seem. As long as you put your best foot forward and do your best to be a student with integrity, a classmate who cares for their peers, and overall just a good person, you will succeed – here and in life. If I can do it, I can guarantee that you can too. Trust me. Upper School encompasses a lifetime in just four years. You will laugh, you will cry, you will have successes and you will have failures.  If you’re like me, you will probably have more than a few sleepless nights because you decided to bite off a little more than you can chew. You will learn the difference, as I have, how to balance the AP classes, the sports, the activities and, when you least expect it, you will make it to senior year. You will sit, equally as shocked to finally be at Convocation your senior year waiting for your vest, as I was. You, too, will graduate and you will start another new journey. My hope for you is that your journey takes you on an adventure that both challenges you to grow and learn and stretch yourself beyond your comfort zone. And, as you start this journey, I wish you all the best of luck.
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Ranney School

235 Hope Road
Tinton Falls, NJ 07724
Tel. 732.542.4777
Our mission is to know and value every child, nurturing intellectual curiosity and confidence, and inspiring students to lead honorably, think creatively, and contribute meaningfully to society.