Asia Battey is a day student from Rome, Ga. She has attended Darlington since pre-kindergarten and is a member of Regester House. Asia is currently a Tiger Expert and sings in the auditioned chorale group, Concert Choir.
When did you begin attending Darlington, and why?
I started Darlington in pre-k. It wasn’t really my choice; it was more of my parents' choice, but I guess after first grade they asked me if I wanted to stay, and I was like, “Why not? It’s a great community. It’s a great place to learn!”
What class have you found the most eye-opening? What did it teach you?
This year I’m taking southern literature with Mr. Marshall, and it’s not just a regular English class. It actually teaches you life lessons through the book that we’re reading, “A Whisper in the River.” You learn about things through his perspective and through your other classmates’ perspectives, and it has just been a new experience for me. It’s nice to have a class where it’s not just like you take a test and get a grade. This class is more discussion-based, and it’s not just what’s right or wrong; it’s more of what people believe.
Your senior prom is right around the corner. Is it a kind of bittersweet thing, prom being one of your last major senior events before you walk the stage?
Yeah, it is. It’s kind of like a pre-game to graduation, because this is really the last event that you have with all of your classmates before graduation, and it’s nice to just have one night to hang out with them and just share great memories together.
You just got back from a Concert Choir trip to Washington D.C. That’s a pretty amazing experience. What’s it been like having the opportunity to perform with Darlington’s premiere vocal group?
It’s been a great experience, and I’m blessed to even have gotten into Concert Choir my sophomore year. D.C. was an amazing trip, and I learned a lot of new things about my fellow chorale singers and just about D.C. in general and the history of Darlington. It was wonderful.
What aspect of Darlington do you feel has best set you up for future success?
I think Darlington all around has set me up for my future and whatever I decide to do. Darlington, for all of its students, brings a great sense of community, and the teachers here are willing to work with you no matter what. It’s just that you have to be willing to put in the effort for it. And that’s just with a lot of things. When you put in the effort, you will get great results.
What memory will you always carry with you as you move on to college?
Probably just all the great memories with my friends and also RUMPUS every year. It’s always a great time to just to be one school for three days. It’s nice.
Also senior retreat, that was really nice too, just because you learned a lot about your classmates, and you spoke to people that you hadn't spoken to since freshman year. And it’s not just one day where you have to bond and then when you get back to school, you don’t speak to each other again. My classmates and I, as a whole, we continued that relationship. It was permanent. It wasn’t just a temporary solution.
How do you deal with the infamous “senioritis?”
I feel like I’ve had senioritis ever since freshman year, but especially this year. Senior year is a big year for college and just growth in general. Personally, I just keep a countdown on my phone until graduation, so that gives me a little motivation to just work my best in school and try to get As in everything. But senioritis, you can’t let it affect you. You just have to think, “There’s a goal that I am trying to reach, and I will reach it. It just takes time.”
Any advice to the upcoming seniors?
Do your work. That’s the most important thing, because you don’t want to get to school and think, “Oh, I’ll just do it during coach class,” and then you don’t. Form a relationship with your teachers, no matter if you don’t like them or anything. Just form a relationship, and it will get you a lot further than you think, because if you think that that teacher doesn’t like you, then you’re wrong. They do like you, they do care about you, and they want you to do well in their class.
Also, you have to focus on yourself in high school. You can’t worry about what your friends are doing or anything. You have to think, “This is what I’m trying to do in high school. I’m trying to reach graduation, for example, and I have to do what’s best for me and do everything I need to do to get there.”
