Looking Forward to Senior Year: Q&A with Juniors Greta Youngstedt and Luis Amado
Juniors Greta Youngstedt and Luis Amado reflect on the last couple of days before senior year.
Photo by Isa Lopez
As the 2025 school year comes to an end, the Class of 2026 rises to become the new seniors at St. Joseph High School. Juniors Greta Youngstedt and Luis Amado reflect on their time at SJHS, their expectations for senior year, and offer words of advice to incoming freshmen.
What’s one piece of advice you’d give to incoming freshmen?
Greta: Go to all the pep rallies and football games and just have fun—it’s worth it.
Luis: Get involved, get outside of your comfort zone, and don’t worry too much about grades.
What are you most excited about in senior year?
G: The senior-only activities: senior sunrise, senior dinner dance, and the rest.
L: I’m looking forward to making it my best year in high school.
What’s been your favorite class so far—the one you’d most recommend?
G: AP Calc with Mr. Miesse; he’s easily one of my favorite teachers.
L: AP Chem with Mr. Haydon. He’s a great teacher and I had a lot of fun with my friends.
What would you like to pursue after high school?
G: I want to go into engineering either at Purdue or the University of Michigan.
L: I want to be a chemical engineer at the University of Michigan.
What have past seniors taught you about what leadership should look like within a school?
G: Tess Kapelke definitely taught me a lot. She did a really good job of making events fun and getting people involved. Like at football games, she would always start the chants, and I thought that was cool.
L: The past seniors did a really good job of guiding the underclassmen and being good role models.
What would you like your senior year to look like?
G: I want to be with my friends as much as I can because I won’t see them much after graduating. I also want to relax and not worry so much about school and have fun.
L: I don’t want to worry so much about classes and spend a good amount of time with my buddies.