Choosing a quote to go with your senior yearbook photo can be tedious. You often have limited time to choose a quote. It also has to reflect your personality. Most importantly, it has to be memorable.
But is it really a life-or-death situation when it comes to senior quotes? This may have been the case for some Del Oro seniors – after all, they will be the school’s first class of graduates.
English teacher and Yearbook advisor Nancy Cisneros encouraged students to think about their senior quote early because it’s a year that already has a lot of stress. She said that not only is it tedious for the seniors but also for the yearbook staff: Seniors must submit their quotes on paper forms. Quotes must also be screened for appropriateness. Then yearbook staff has to match the quote with the senior’s photo. Although it may not seem much, it can be a lot when you’re dealing with a couple hundred students.
Librarian Isaac Richert agreed with Cisneros: “I think they’re fun to look back on, especially as an adult when you have a few years in between high school, because you can see how you’ve changed and if you still think the same.”
Senior Kimberly Becerra chose the lines “Ready to head into the unknown? Nope, let’s do it” from the animated series “Gravity Falls.” Becerra said her quote summed up her fear of what she’s about to face when she starts college.
“I’m scared about what’s to come in college but I’m also excited,” she said. “The fear of heading into something you aren’t used to is scary, but not letting that fear stop you is when you are able to start something.”
When it comes to Del Oro’s teachers, however, most have either forgotten their senior quote or just didn’t have one. On the other hand, Dean of Students Justin Brooks was extremely lucky and had two quotes.
His first was “My only love sprung from my only hate,” spoken by Juliet Capulet from William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet.” Brooks said the quote was meaningful to him because he described himself in high school as a “huge theater kid.”
His second quote was more inspirational: “All it takes is a voice. A single voice becomes a hundred, then a thousand, unless it’s silenced.”
For some Del Oro seniors, picking the right quote was done to help preserve high school memories.
Yaritza Carrillo chose “Nothin’ lasts forever, least we got these memories” from J. Cole as one of her two selections.
“I picked that one because we’ll always have these high school memories,” she said.
Biology teacher Lynna Ha was excited to share their senior quote: “A hill is just another opportunity to pass up your opponent.”
Algebra and Intro to Engineering teacher Juan Constantino could not stop laughing when he was asked about his quote. Instead, he wrote it down: “How did I survive Geometry? Suhcahtoe.”
Like Constantino, some seniors chose their quote with the intent of being humorous.
Michelle Hernandez Moreno chose “You all were just stepping stones to my victory” from “My Hero Academia” as her quote.
“It’s just for fun and laughs,” she said.
She said it wasn’t difficult to find a quote, but she in hindsight she wished she had instead used “At least the crash outs were fun.”
“I loved my crash outs,” she said. “They were funny.”
While most seniors may agree that the greatest value of having a quote in the yearbook is the emotional connection it creates. When Del Oro’s seniors look back at their quotes years from now, they may feel nostalgia, a sense of laughter, or perhaps cringe, but they’ll also feel the emotions that come from knowing how much they’ve changed over time.
Editor’s note: We asked several teachers and staff members on campus to send in their high school senior portraits. We were not disappointed. Enjoy these before-and-after images of some of our teachers and staff members.
