“Am I ready to graduate and move out of the house?”

Rebecca Hasz, a Spanish teacher at LHS, graduated from high school in 1995 and College in 2001. Hasz attended North Idaho College for her first two years, then transferred to the University of Idaho to finish her schooling. The first few nights alone were tough, but having two roommates helped the transition. 

Hasz is a mom and has tried her best to prepare her children for the adult world, but she thinks she could have done better in some areas. The Hasz children will learn with trial and error. 

“There is research out there right now that current 17-18-year-olds are the equivalent of 15-16-year-olds of the ’90s,” said Hasz. “I think there are many reasons for this, but a lot of it has to do with parenting. Not giving enough responsibility or trust to your child makes them less likely to be independent,” Hasz said. 

Back when the teachers of LHS roamed as juveniles, many had a lot more freedom and opportunities to learn from their mistakes. The world is changing daily, and new parenting techniques come with that. 

John Keating, an economics teacher at LHS, graduated from high school in 1980 and from college (for the first time) in 1986. Only seven weeks after graduation, Keating made his debut in the adult world by moving from the suburbs of Boston to Moscow, Idaho. Since then, he has flourished into the skilled adult he is today. 

“There is a process. Pay attention, you’ll make mistakes – learn from them, and you’ll get better at it,” Keating said. “Nobody is really ever done learning how to be the best adult they can be. The trick is to get pretty good at it early in life – doing so helps to avoid some of the bigger mistakes.” 

Generally, birds get kicked out of the nest after two weeks. Humankind likes to keep their children around for a couple more weeks before kicking them out. With all the extra weeks in the nest, learning how to live alone can be easy. 

Learning how to pay bills, clean, and earn the basic necessities of living comes from adequate parenting. 

William Ryan, a math teacher at LHS, graduated in 1997 after living in a small town for his whole life. He has four kids and tries his best to prepare them and teach them what they need. It is important to Ryan to give them a solid base of values that they could use to deal with “adult” situations. 

“The learning never stops,” Ryan said. 

Mistakes happen, as many know, and they never stop happening. It is important to be okay with mistakes and learn from them. 

LHS is filled with intelligent teachers and parents who build satisfactory young adults educationally and socially.  

During senior year, students take classes like Economics and Government, which helps the transition. During these classes, the soon-to-be graduates learn to manage their money better, understand the US government and politics, and how to get essential things like insurance. 

Bryce Fuller, a freshman at Lakeland, is currently planning on going to trade school when he graduates. Even though he was pushed into getting a job and other things, he still feels like he has a lot to learn in the next four years before he will be ready for the adult world. School-wise, he doesn’t think that he learns anything useful from school. 

“I don’t need stuff like Algebra in the real world,” Fuller said. 

From walking into the doors of LHS as a freshman to walking out the doors as a senior, students learn and grow astronomically. 

Bethany Jensen, a senior at LHS, plans to move to Lewiston for college. She doesn’t know how to feel about moving out; she wants to be on her own so that she does not have things like a 10:30 bedtime. However, it is a bit depressing thinking about not having her parents around to do things like change her oil. 

“I want the freedom of being out of the house,” Jensen said.

Simply being able to do whatever, whenever, without worrying about telling parents is most of the reason any young adult wants to get out of the house.

I personally am terrified. I know how to keep myself alive, but I know there are many things that I am entirely unaware of. From a young age, my parents have slowly taught me how to make it in the world by forcing me to try new things and learn. They pushed me to get jobs throughout high school, giving me a better perspective on money and responsibility. Good Job, mom, and dad!

I plan to move out within a few months of graduation into my own place with my dog. I do not want any roommates, no patients for that, because I feel that if I am going to move out and become an adult, I may as well jump straight into it. 

The LHS class of 2023 and all to come are prepared and ready for the scary world.