It has come to the end of the school year, and for Estefany Canchola, it means the end of one journey and the start of another.
Estefany’s high school experience was good, though it started off rough due to COVID-19 and only being able to go to school for half the day.
“If that hadn’t happened, maybe my high school experience would have been a little bit better, but I still enjoyed it. I still enjoyed going to all the football games and doing all the regular things after hybrid,” Estefany said.
That experience quickly derailed what she had previously imagined her high school experience to be. Still, that didn’t stop her from enjoying her favorite activities, such as the pep rallies, assemblies and games. Estefany was involved in the school community as a dancer on WHS’s AppleEtte team.
Estefany’s favorite memory from being in the AppleEttes had to be going to state this year since it was her last. The hardest part about being on the dance team had to be balancing her schedule. Estefany is thankful to her teachers who helped her get her work in.
“I usually tell my teachers that I’m involved in something, and they’ll give me grace and help me out whenever I need it, or they will extend things for me, or sometimes they will put extra work during or outside of class to do what I need to do,” Estefany said.
Out of all the teachers Estefany had, she said the one that had the greatest impact on her was Jenaia Johnson.
“Mrs. Johnson influences me the most because she helps me with what I actually need and helps me use it in real life. Growing up and adulting and stuff, she’s helped me out with stuff for college and giving me good advice, not just school related but just growing up related, and I feel that special, and a lot of teachers don’t give you that,” Estefany said.
Johnson has been Estefany’s mentor ever since she was one of her freshman-year teachers.
“She was learning to be a high school teacher along with us so we kind of learned together how to grow up,” Estefany said. “She tells me all the time that we helped her grow to be a good high school teacher and she helped me grow to be a good adult at this point.”
Johnson described Canchola as a shark, queen, sassy, diva and fierce. Johnson has seen how Estefany has grown as a person through the years.
“I’ve seen Estefany grow into her own voice. She can stand her own ground and knows what she wants, and she really knows she’s a fighter in the sense that she stands up for fairness not only for herself but for her friends,” Johnson said.
To Estefany, Johnson’s teachings have greatly influenced her confidence and ability to advocate for herself. She explained how Johnson’s willingness to stand her ground and express her opinions really encouraged her to do so.
Many describe Estefany as protective and caring, who pushes herself and her friends to be better.
Estefany’s accomplishments came from not only AppleEttes but also AVID. She said one of her biggest accomplishments was staying in Avid for all four years of high school. Estefany ran for homecoming just to involve herself and meet new people. She still doesn’t know some of her senior class, so she strives to get to know as many more of them as she can.
As Estefany reflects on the last four years of high school, she leaves this advice for incoming freshmen.
“Your expectations are not what will happen,” Estefany said. “Everyone thinks they know how they want their high school experience to be, but overall, at the end of the day, it just doesn’t happen. You learn a lot, and you’re going to realize you were really dumb your freshman year or sophomore year or that you were really annoying, but in the end, you will realize you matured from it.”
Estefany also learned that even if you’re ready to give up on school or want to give up, it’s still worth showing up
If Estefany could change anything from her experience, it would be to grow and evolve way more than she did, but she just didn’t have the time for it. Another thing she would’ve loved to do is interact with and get to know more teachers. The one thing Estefany will miss about being in high school is being a kid. Compared to freshman year, Estefany feels like she’s a whole different person. She thinks that at first, she was more influenced and would listen to what others told her, but as the years went on, she felt she stood up for herself more. That’s one thing her friend Delilah Valdovines says she finds special in her.
“She’s always stood up for me and anyone she cares about, and she’s pushed me to do a lot of things I couldn’t have done without her, which means the world to me,” Delilah said.
Estefany plans on attending Washington State University in Pullman, Washington, and wants to major in something law-related. She hopes that in the future, she’ll either be a social worker or a lawyer.