It’s never too late for this Liberty graduate

Though senior year of high school is often a year of lasts – last time memorizing a new locker combination, last time getting dressed up for homecoming, last time asking friends to sign yearbooks – it was a year of firsts for Liberty High School senior Trishia McTaggart.

Wanting to get the most out of her final year after a slow start to high school, McTaggart spent the year trying new activities. She cheered on the basketball and football teams as a first-time cheerleader and jumped head first into Future Business Leaders of America, placing eighth in marketing with her teammate, all while pitching and playing shortstop in softball, which she’s played since sixth grade.

“It makes high school a more fun place to go to because you’re involved in everything,” she said.

In a way, McTaggart was making up for lost time.

McTaggart started high school thinking, like most students, that the next four years would last forever.

“When I first started, I thought ‘I have four years. I have some time to mess around a bit,’ ” she said. “I didn’t care about my work.”

But before she knew it, McTaggart was starting her junior year with lackluster grades and a feeling of disconnect from her school. It was then that she decided, with the help of her teachers, to turn things around.

“The more I wanted to be involved in class, the more I wanted to be here and show teachers and other people that I’ve changed,” she said.

McTaggart found a particularly strong ally in Teresa Whittall, her math teacher, who McTaggart would turn to for advice and help with assignments.

“It really helps that you have a connection with your teachers,” McTaggart said. “She understands what I’m going through.”

Now, McTaggart looks back on her high school career with only one regret.

“If I’d known then what I know now, I would’ve changed earlier and done more school-involved activities,” she said. “I wouldn’t go to dances or participate in dress-up days because I thought ‘They’re not really for me,’ but they’re fun when you get involved in it. You have a careless feeling about what people think.”

After graduation, McTaggart plans to attend Spokane Falls Community College part-time, while also working at Pizza Hut, to complete general studies classes while figuring out what career she wants to pursue.

Until then, she hopes to finish her senior year on a high note.

“Through the last stretch of the school year, you start to get antsy and get senioritis,” she said. “Then graduation comes and you’re in tears saying goodbye to everyone. I’m just trying to make the most of it and to leave a good memory behind.”