HIGH LIFE A WEEKLY FORUM FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS : Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda--Here Are Some Things That Might Have Been Done Differently

A second chance.

If you had one, maybe you would have studied more, or gone out for the football team, or at least talked to that guy or girl with the locker near yours.

All anybody ever wants is another chance.

Hot Topics wonders: “If you could repeat this last school year, what would you do differently?”

“I would have scored one more point in basketball. I scored 99 points in the season.”

Marcus Endert, 17,

senior, Bethel Baptist

“I would try harder to help my classmates get along better.”

Becky Williams, 16,

junior, Bethel Baptist

“I would study harder to get better grades, be more kind to my friends and would be more involved with school. I would have made my last year more memorable.”

Jennifer Pulfer, 18,

senior, Bethel Baptist

“I wouldn’t have worked during the school year.”

Jenny Mask, 16,

junior, Brea-Olinda

“I would not have taken Algebra II because I’m failing.”

Margaret McDonnell, 16,

junior, Brea-Olinda

“Made more of an attempt to be a kid. I feel like I have worked my weekends completely away. I would also have gone to more dances.”

Julie Suscardo, 16,

junior, Brea-Olinda

“I would get over a 2.5 grade-point average so I could wrestle and go to league finals, and play football and beat Valencia and Sonora.”

Todd Parrack, 14,

freshman, Brea-Olinda

“I would have studied a little harder and would have probably gotten more into sports.”

Amber Couturier, 14,

freshman, Brea-Olinda

“Absolutely nothing. I’ve had the best year ever.”

Jason Niedle, 18,

senior, Cypress

“I wouldn’t take math.”

Karen Lem, 17,

senior, Cypress

“I wouldn’t park in Mr. (Jack, the principal) Weber’s parking space. He double-parked me so I couldn’t get out.”

Marie Choi, 18,

senior, Cypress

“I would not have studied for the AP (Advanced Placement) calculus test so much.”

Eugene Tsai, 17,

senior, Cypress

“I would be more involved in the activities--for example, maybe I would join a sport.”

Christina Gonzalez, 18,

senior, Cypress

“Study harder and I wouldn’t go out as much. I would also be more serious, especially in school.”

Leilani Policar, 16,

senior, Esperanza

“I wouldn’t have bought such an expensive car because it is too hard to handle the payments.”

Dayna Evers, 17,

senior, Esperanza

“I wouldn’t even attempt Algebra II.”

Jennifer Dire, 16,

junior, Esperanza

“Start my history report when it was assigned.”

Eric Conner, 15,

freshman, Esperanza

“I would not come to school as much.”

Ashley Brown, 18,

senior, Estancia

“I would have robbed a bank for all the senior expenses, but besides that, it has been a hell of a year.”

Bill Gomez, 18,

senior, Estancia

“I would have spent more time on my studies and baseball.”

Gary Burrows, 18,

junior, Estancia

“I wouldn’t even go to school.”

Adam Zupka, 17,

junior, Foothill

“I wouldn’t take German because hardly anybody speaks it.”

Jeff Stanley, 15,

freshman, Foothill

“I would play some sport, because PE is the worst.”

Heather Deppe, 15,

freshman, Foothill

“I would have gotten a tutor sooner.”

Courtney Hunt, 15,

freshman, Fullerton

“I would not have taken classes that I didn’t need to.”

Aarti Srinivasan, 17,

senior, Fullerton

“I’d try to be friendlier and not be such a complainer.”

Glenel Zeilstra, 18,

senior, Heritage

“Try to be more outgoing and talkative, like my sister.”

Beckie Adkins, 18,

senior, Heritage

“Change my attitude about my perception of school and teachers.”

Arthur Andrews, 17,

junior, Heritage

“I wouldn’t try to be the perfect student.”

Darrel Ortloff, 16,

sophomore, Heritage

“Change my attitude towards people and be friendlier.”

Grace Adams, 15,

freshman, Heritage

“I would work harder and try to get straight A’s to really boost my GPA.”

Tiffany Ireland, 17,

senior, Irvine

“Cause more trouble.”

Matt Klitsel, 18,

senior, Irvine

“I would have taken more academic classes rather than crafts and volleyball.”

Jennifer Spencer, 18,

senior, Irvine

“I would drop out of school and move to Australia.”

Carl Jackson, 17,

junior, Irvine

“Tried on my grades a little bit harder. I let them go down, and now I’m trying to raise them up again.”

Brian Long, 16,

junior, Mission Viejo

“Make the year shorter.”

Kevin Courtney, 16,

junior, Mission Viejo

“I would have liked more field trips and more swim time during PE.”

Kelly Howes, 14,

freshman, Mission Viejo

“I wouldn’t want to repeat it. It wasn’t really that bad, but I still wouldn’t want to repeat it.”

Naomi Healy, 16,

junior, Orange

“My homework.”

Tom Ring, 17,

junior, Orange

“I probably would have gone to Buena Park (High School) instead of Orange.”

Sarah Wue, 15,

sophomore, Orange

“I wouldn’t have taken honors classes.”

Rochelle Lloyd, 16,

junior, Orange

“I wouldn’t have had such a hectic schedule.”

Benito Castrejon, 17,

senior, Orange

“I wouldn’t change a thing. I liked the way my friends stuck together this year.”

Letty Flores, 18,

senior, Santa Ana

“I would have changed my study habits.”

Angie Alcaraz, 18,

senior, Santa Ana

“Nothing because I like the way the school year has been.”

Carolyn Alper, 17,

senior, Tustin

“Get rid of the cheerleaders, get rid of the ASB jocks and 99.5% of Tustin High School.”

Kristie Bingham, 15,

junior, Tustin

“I wouldn’t have taken calculus at all, and I would have dropped physics last semester.”

Chris King, 17,

senior, University

“I wouldn’t have stressed out so much. I would have had fun, but at the same time, try to do well in my classes.”

Rachel Hess, 17,

junior, University

“I would have tried out for the soccer team but because of classes, I couldn’t.”

Abi Zandi, 17,

junior, University

“Study more because I’m not happy with my grades.”

Nham Truong, 16,

sophomore, Valencia

“Get a better guitar and play more often.”

Scott Roller, 17,

senior, Valencia

“I would change nothing. I’ve had a perfect year with perfect grades.”

Tencha Smith, 15,

sophomore, Valencia

“I would study more and become involved with extracurricular activities.”

Kirstan Kirkwood, 15,

sophomore, Villa Park

“Have more days off.”

David Caliendo, 15,

freshman, Villa Park

“I would have gotten more involved with school.”

Holly Deibel, 17,

senior, Villa Park

“I would probably change my procrastination in my studying.”

Patti Cole, 17,

senior, Western

“I probably would have taken a cosmetician class at Golden West College after my sophomore year during the summer.”

Judy Park, 17,

junior, Western

“I would definitely study more and be more responsible in my schoolwork.”

Lisette Alfonso, 15,

sophomore, Western

“I would change my attitude in school. In other words, I would like to be a troublemaker because I am tired of being a quiet, well-behaved student.”

Tom Ahn, 16,

freshman, Western

“I would definitely study my tail off so that I don’t fail.”

Lisa Smith, 14,

freshman, Western

Next Week’s Hot Topic:

What’s the best tip you can give somebody who’s preparing to take a final exam?

Hot Topic responses were gathered by Melissa Brooks, Angela Conner, John Doney, Roxane Dyrud, Lynda Kim, Kyra Kirkwood, Jooyoung Lee, Rebecca Leung, Jason Loeb, Monica Neal, Heather Orey, Hai Pham, Gabriel Saldivar, Adria Silva, Janet Stouder, Jana Swail and Ed White.

DR, GABRIEL SALDIVAR