Outgoing senior, Jayden Saito, has made her mark on the school, acting as the Student Body President and getting her hands dirty with school participation. She has taken the initiative to make her time in high school the most memorable and one big story to reflect on later. 

Saito’s jobs throughout the years have kept her busy and made the hardships a significant part of her everyday life. Gaining experience, career skills, and many highlights have been Saito’s main objectives over the past four years.

“Honestly, being involved has made my high school experience so much better, but I enjoy football games. In my opinion, that is one of the best things about high school,” Saito expresses. “I’ve tried to be involved with a lot. I have done track, of course, Student Council, and many different clubs.”

Being a senior at the Ridge means a lot of dedicated spirit days and opportunities to relish in the final year. For Saito, many of these times have been activities to check off the bucket list that began as soon as she became a freshman. 

“So far, I liked painting my senior parking spot. That’s something I’ve been waiting for since I was a freshman. I am also really looking forward to senior prom and graduation, of course,” Saito states.

Taking her time to focus and soak up all the information each class shared, Saito aims to earn a CTE Diploma and walk the stage in a white cap and gown. Each subject came with a new wave of difficulty to overcome, and lucky for Saito, she still managed to push through it all. 

“I obviously have to put in lots of work to achieve everything I strive for. However, I noticed that the more involved I am, the more effort I have to put in academics-wise,” reveals Saito. “I’m always stressed out, but I am proud of myself and wouldn’t change anything.”

Alongside being a star student, Saito has taken on the time-consuming task of Student Body President. This new position has changed her for the better and served as a true eye-opener to what Saito can genuinely accomplish.

“I think it has made me realize that high school is a time meant to have fun, and I feel like I’ve taken it way too seriously in the past. Of course, there are always responsibilities and things that have to get done, but that doesn’t mean that it’s not okay to have fun and make mistakes,” Saito reflects. “Being Student Body President, I’ve had more opportunities to go out of my comfort zone and be silly and honestly kind of obnoxious. I feel like that has kind of stereotyped me as a little bit annoying, but in reality, I’m just having fun and understanding that it’s not that serious, and I enjoy being loud and giggly all the time.”

Taking on the role and all it entails, Saito has run with the system to put together many school events and even helped shape her personality along the way. Finding out who she was added to the journey high school brought, and at the end of this chapter for Saito came many goodbyes to people she cared dearly for. 

“I am, of course, going to miss all my teachers, but I am going to miss my Student Council Advisor, Ms. Coyle and all the admin.,” voices Saito. 

Reflecting on how she feels now and how she did four years ago has been an actual time-turning task for Saito. Taking all the wise lessons she has had to work through and not only applying them to her daily life but helping those who may also be in the same situations is the challenge Saito is up for. 

“I think my freshmen year self would be shocked with everything I’ve been able to accomplish but also how happy I’m able to be even though there is always so much going on,” Saito affirms. “My advice is to get involved and step out of your comfort zone. It’s okay to fail, but it is better to try than regret it later.”