The words ‘settling down’ can mean a lot of things, especially for seniors as they face new lives after graduation.

  “Settling down means getting a job, a house or an apartment,” senior Kaylee Moody said.

  Moody said she isn’t going to college and that she plans on being an independent business owner.

  “I’ve taken some business classes and I know a little bit about running a business.”

  “Before I settle down, I’d like to just travel a little bit,” senior Daniel Harris said. “I’d probably go up to Wisconsin. I have some family up there that I haven’t seen in a couple years. Also, probably Hawaii.”

  Not everybody has the same definition for settling down. To senior Tristan Good, setting down isn’t a terminus to living a life filled with wonder and excitement.

  “Settling down doesn’t necessarily mean stopping,” Good said. “When I settle down, I still want to be able to travel and do all that, because there’s a big world out there.”

  Travelling seems to be at the top of the list of things seniors want to do.

  Substitute teacher Brandi Maddux wanted to travel after she graduated from Warsaw High School in 2012.

  “I’ve always wanted to go overseas to see Ireland. I’m also fascinated with Egypt. I want to go see the ancient monuments over there,”  Maddux said. “But there’s this little thing called money.”

  Maddux, in her own definition, isn’t settled down, but she was at one point and is working back towards it. In what way was she settled down previously? Did she have a husband and kids? Did she have a stable job and housing?

  Denis Hawley, however, only began travelling after he settled down. Hawley graduated in 2014.

  “Ten days after high school I went into trade school — graduated from trade school and then went immediately into the workforce,” Hawley said.

  Hawley now has a wife and two kids and he owns a house.

  “I feel like when you settle down, your life has just started,” Hawley said. “I’ve traveled to a lot of places for my job, welding. We’ve gone on cruises too, a little vacation here and there.”

  Senior Ryan Franklin has similar plans of immediate study and work, but he says he’s never going to try to settle down.

  “I’m going to Troy, Missouri and I’m going to Harley Race Wrestling Academy.” Franklin said. “I always wanted to be a pro wrestler.”

  “Settling for being not yourself is settling down. I would have to change for society.” Franklin said. “I never want to settle down — life is short.”