The Google Form for this year’s yearbook senior superlatives came out a couple weeks ago, listing a number of “most likely to’s” and “best this, best that” prompts. But is this tradition really beneficial, or does it belong in the past?
Being in yearbook class, I put my input in on the types of superlatives that I wanted to see as well as the opinions of how my classmates feel about senior superlatives. The process in which they get chosen is that the seniors on the yearbook staff team will sit together and conjure up topics that they think the others will like. From there, the whole senior class gets to collectively vote for which ones they want to be featured in the yearbook and then proceed to nominate their fellow peers for the topics. Whoever gets the majority of the votes will be listed and go through another round of voting, all of which via Google Form.
Some of the ones that were mutually chosen by the class of 2024 range from, “best eyes” and “best hair” to “most likely to become president” and “heart of gold”, there is a common theme that everyone picks their friends for this. This process comes with some pros and cons, including the question of its authenticity.
Asking opinions around my block 5 yearbook class, I got mixed opinions. “I think that they are creative and fun as you can go down memory lane and learn more about a person,” says yearbook junior Abby Byrne, realizing that this list of “most likely to’s” and “best this, best that” also adds a fun touch to the yearbook. It makes the yearbook more personal and allows seniors to be recognized for something either superficial or for a personality trait that caused them to earn their high school glory.
On the other hand, there were also some negative reactions. As Melanie Chirichillo proposed, “I feel as if it is a popularity-based contest, and it’s just for those kids to get their glory. Lesser known students don’t get the recognition they deserve.” It’s likely certain seniors will be repeated in categories. It can also humiliate someone based on whether or not they are on the nomination list.
Ms. Malin, the MK yearbook advisor provided her input, stating “As yearbook advisor, I know the importance of tradition. Superlatives [have] been a Knolls tradition going back as far as 1972. Over the past few years, our yearbook staff has tried to mix up the categories to make them more reflective to each year’s graduating class. I would encourage anyone who has an interest in senior superlatives to join our yearbook class.“
Many wonder: Is there a way where we can change superlatives to be more niche, like “most likely to ditch gym class and pick up trash in the woods” or “most likely to drink a gallon of water per day,” instead of broad categories like “best style” or “class couple”? Maybe there is a way that we can combat this issue besides selecting two seniors over Google Forms.
