Senior David Hagler has learned many valuable life lessons in his time at Darlington and hopes to continue learning new lessons throughout his senior year.

Hagler has been at Darlington since he was freshman and his transition to Darlington has been beneficial to his growth.

“I’ve obviously learned a lot. I’ve met great people and my transition from my old school to Darlington is something I definitely don’t regret,” Hagler said. “Darlington has changed my life and just the experiences I’ve had and I look forward to this next year.”

In his time at Darlington, Hagler has been very involved in the school community and learned many lessons.

“I’ve learned how to interact with different cultures of people with being involved in the dorm. I’ve learned obviously from the many academic classes I’ve taken, from the great teachers and I would also say that being involved in the extracurricular stuff, that I’ve learned how to be a leader and how to get along with others.”

Hagler has been especially involved in Summerbell where he will serve as Head Day Prefect this upcoming school year.

“I’d say being involved with the dorm has been the most valuable thing I’ve been a part of at Darlington, meaning that getting to work with a group of students and friends who all care about a common goal has been extremely special,” Hagler said. “You don’t often find a group of people so caring and dedicated as I have in Summerbell.”

Hagler is taking many hard courses during his senior year, but he would like to focus on Darlington holistically in his senior year.

“Obviously, senior year and a lot of us are taking AP classes. Sometimes, too many for our own good, but my goal is to do well in those classes, obviously, but not spend tremendous amounts of time working toward that, but also realize that there are more important things than just homework sometimes that can be more valuable,” Hagler said. “Whether it be interacting with friends or working on extracurriculars, I feel that a lot of us have put on the elbow grease junior year and up to that year, but I kind of want to focus on Darlington more holistically that just academics.”

Hagler hopes to meet new people and to learn more about his community in his senior year.

“I think I’m realizing that with only one year left, I wish I had sat and talked to more people than I did. To get to know some of the teachers and some of my peers a little bit better,” Hagler said. “That’s something I want to focus on this year, building relationships with people and getting to know them. That’s something I wish I had done more of in the past three years.”

Hagler encourages others to live in the moment and to enjoy every individual experience for what it is.

“You hear this a lot, but time really does fly. Your four years in high school, I would say to take a moment and just enjoy each experience for what it is,” Hagler said. “Don’t be so focused on what you’re going to be doing tomorrow, where you’re going to be next year or looking back behind you. Just make each moment as special as it could be and move on from there.”