As the 2024-2025 school year wraps up, we must say goodbye to our graduating senior class. Sebastian Udarbe is one such senior who will be making the transition from high school to college this summer. In this one-on-one interview, Sebastian details both what he thinks college will be like for him, and his takeaways from high school that have shaped who he is as a person.
What do you plan on majoring in, and why did you choose this major?
Sebastian: I plan on majoring in psychology, mainly because I’ve been interested in it since I was a kid. It just seemed like a cool course, and I took it in my junior year. It was actually really interesting, I had a lot of fun in it.
So is this a recent fascination?
No, ever since I was a kid. Just taking it in high school amplified it [fascination], I suppose.
Would you say that you had a positive or negative high school experience, and why?
I would say that I had a positive high school experience. There was nothing about it that made it relatively negative. I wasn’t bullied; I had a lot of friends. I wasn’t too stressed out. I wasn’t in a worse mental state than I came in now.
Most people lose contact with their friends after high school. Do you plan to keep in touch with certain friends, and if so, how do you think you will attempt to stay in touch with them?
Oh, I will one hundred percent be staying in contact with certain friends. [For] Some friends, life goes on and I’ll lose them, but there are some friends that I obviously I’ll stay in contact with. We have group chats that we [use] to stay in contact with. A bunch of them [friends] I don’t even live that far from, well, maybe when we are in college, less time will be spent hanging out.
But you’re still making attempts?
Yeah, I’ll still be making attempts, well obviously. I can’t just forget them [friends] like that. I wouldn’t be able to.
What are some major hobbies or passions that you have?
I play video games. I write on my own time. I’m in a major DND group that I’ve been playing with for two to three years now.
What kind of things do you write about?
Mostly fiction. It’s never usually anything long. Most recently, I wrote a two page fiction piece. I haven’t really written anything too long in a hot minute.
It’s just whenever you’re in the mood?
Yeah, whenever I’m in the mood. It gets my creative outlet out if I’m not doing DND.
If you could go back in time, what is something that you would tell your freshman-year self to either do or not to do in high school?
Just be ballsy. Just do what you want to do because it’s high school and no one’s really going to care after a year [of high school being over]. No one’s really going to remember you for one thing, except if it’s really notable or if you did something stupid. Just do what you want to do and have fun.
Do you think your transition from high school to college will be difficult or easy?
I can’t predict it, but it shouldn’t be too hard, I assume. I’m not going too far. I’m going to MSU [Montclair State University], so it’s not too far.
Do you foresee any major challenges once you get to college, or do you think you’ll be fine?
No, I think I’ll be in a good spot. Maybe making new friends on campus will be a little difficult, but so is making friends anywhere.
The classes, though, do you think you’ll be ok with the workload or anything like that?
If not, I’ll adapt. I’ll fix my schedule around [my new free time]. Now that I’m in college, I’ll have more free time to myself. I’m not constantly at school every day. I’ll have more time to myself, except for the weekends, to work on adapting to this new workload that I’ve got going on.
Do you have anything besides college that you are looking forward to doing in the future? It could be in the immediate future or even a couple of years down the road.
I guess graduating, both my high school and college graduation, because high school graduation is breathing down my neck right now.
Anything in between those?
Honestly, I don’t know where life’s going to take me within those years.
So you just have those set junctions?
Yes, I know those are what I’m looking forward to. If something happens, like if I get a partner or something, then obviously there will be more events that I’m looking forward to. All in all, I can’t predict the future. I don’t know for certain what I’m going to look forward to.
So it’s basically, however the wind takes you, you will follow?
Yeah. I’ve always had this mentality. I don’t pre-plan anything. If it happens, then it happens.
Do you plan on traveling anywhere before college?
Yes. For prom weekend, I’m going down to Pennsylvania with a bunch of my friends to just hang out. After graduation, maybe. I might go back to the Philippines to visit family, but all in all, that’s really it. After graduation and before college, there isn’t enough time to go out and travel.
Do you plan on doing any study abroad programs?
No, I’m staying right here in New Jersey! Too much money to be spent. I’m not ready to live alone.
Is there anything else about yourself, such as a quality, ability, skill, or some other characteristic about yourself that is crucial for people to understand that defines you as a person?
I like to say that I’m a pretty decent person. I think I’m pretty cool. I’m not necessarily malevolent.
So you’re just well-rounded in all things, like being dependable?
Sure. For the dependable aspect, yeah. If you tell me to do something, I’ll do it. I might not like it, but I’ll do it for you. If I like you enough, then yeah, I’ll do it.
