Two decades from now, current Apex students will be off on new endeavors and far from their high school days. The question is, what will they be doing, or at least what do they hope they will be doing? Here’s a peek into how a few AHS students envision their lives twenty years from now.

Freshman Hannah Pierce

Two decades from now, Pierce will be thirty-four years old, and she aspires to be either a veterinarian or a biotechnologist. She detailed on her goals for this time, “I hope to have graduated from college, found a good job, and maybe even have made an important discovery.” Her main objectives for the next few years center around finishing school and getting a stable job, which many other students can probably relate to. Along with those major goals, Pierce also hopes to learn how to speak Spanish, and she can surely get a great start on that here at AHS. Pierce also talked about more in-depth life specifics, mentioning, “I want to be married, have four kids, and then a couple pets. Also, I want to live on a small farm somewhere around this area.” Pierce thinks her twenty-years-from-now-self would view her current self as, “someone with a lot of potential and hoping that they become someone to be proud of.”

Sophomore Rebecca Bierfeldt

Twenty years from now, Bierfeldt will be thirty-six years old, and she hopes to be pursuing the career of a medical scientist. She says ideally her family life will consist of two dogs, maybe a husband, but definitely no kids. When asked where she sees herself living, Bierfeldt responded, “Here, in the triangle area. Hopefully I’ll live in a small house in a nice neighborhood or maybe a little townhome or something. I don’t want to spend a lot of money on that sort of thing. I rather spend my money on other things like clothes.” Clearly she already has her future priorities in mind. Bierfeldt also detailed on what she plans to accomplish within the next couple decades, “I hope I have a master’s or a PhD, if I can go to school that long. Also, I hope to have a stable job where I’m doing research that is important to me and that I think will make some sort of difference in the future.” It is great to see that Bierfeldt has such high aspirations for herself. She also mentioned how she hopes to spend her work time in labs, doing tests, making experiments, and developing medications. Finally, one thing Bierfeldt hopes to learn in the next twenty years that she does not know now is, “Where the irrational number e came from because I don’t even know what that thing is!”

Junior Jeremy Huang

Huang seemed somewhat uncertain about his hopes for the future. He knows that in twenty years he will be thirty-seven years old, but he is not quite sure on a career. After thinking about it for a little bit, he said that he hopes to be at the head of a business corporation. When asked where he sees himself living, Huang responded with, “Probably around here in North Carolina,” but then excitedly said, “Or Texas!” It is difficult to figure out your hopes for the future, so it is very understandable how Huang is not totally certain about his life goals. He also mentioned, “Twenty years from now I hope to be established, have a house, not be poor, and have a family.” Those aspirations seem to be a common trend with students at AHS. Huang concluded with one definite response to how he believes his older self would view his current self, joking, “He would tell me to stop wasting my life away.”

Senior Harrison Hayne

By the time he is thirty-eight years old, Hayne plans to be a contract attorney. He seems to have his life all planned out, summarizing, “I hope to be married with two children and a dog but not one that sheds too much because I have one of those right now, and it’s a lot of work. I see myself living on the shores of Lake Michigan in a nice home. I hope to have a relatively large house but not quite a mansion because I don’t want to be ‘that guy’ who shoves his money in other people’s faces.” Hayne wants to graduate from NC State University and then continue to another university for law school. Twenty years from the exact moment of his interview Hayne predicted, “I think I will be watching my beloved NC State Wolfpack in the first round of the ACC tournament.” Many others can probably relate to Hayne on that note! Overall, he feels that within the next couple of decades he truly wants to maximize his life to the fullest.

It is very exciting to hear what AHS students are hoping for in their futures. They continue to work hard every day in order to reach their dream careers and goals. Of course no one can predict what life will actually be like twenty years from now, but it is interesting to find out what a few individuals are hoping for.