Ever since students watched the Wildcats burst into a synchronized dance number on top of red lunch tables in “High School Musical” while singing “Stick to the Status Quo,” movies have been setting the bar pretty high for what life is like in high school. Eight years after singing along with Troy Bolton, students are at Staples and ready to make those quintessential high school moments their own.

Envisioning the last day of school in “High School Musical 2” when Ms. Darbus’ homeroom whispers “summer” before the final bell rings, Jojo Adler ’16 wants “everyone to throw all their papers in the air and race out of school.”

Claire Smith ’15 has a more ambitious goal. Smith lives by the motto, “No ragrets” from the 2013 comedy, “We’re the Millers.” In the scene, actor Jason Sudeikis jokes with a teenager about a bold tattoo on his chest with this motto. Sudeikis says, “You have no regrets? Not even a single letter?”

Smith doesn’t want to look back on her senior year with any regrets – not even a single moment. She wants it to live up to movie standards, especially her class’ senior prank.

“Let’s put Dodig’s car on the roof of the school,” Smith joked, as shown in an episode of Full House when D.J. did the same to her principal’s car.

However, many students would agree that high school in real-life isn’t exactly like the movies; although it’s fun, students’ goals tend to be more geared towards their futures. Once students become ninth graders, the goals of skipping class like Ferris Bueller and sitting at the popular table like the Plastics in “Mean Girls” don’t seem as achievable or desirable as they had once been.

Noa Wind ’15 crossed her fingers, hoping that her goal would be a bit more realistic.

“I want a chance to sing in front of the school, whether that be at the variety show, baccalaureate, or graduation,” Wind said, as she is hoping to pursue a career as an opera singer.

“In a perfect world I would be able to stand in front of my classmates, without any fear or nerves, and show them what I can do and what I have worked so hard to achieve.”

Peter Sauer ’16, highly invested in I²robotics, a team of students in Westport focused on designing, building and programming robots for competition, has high hopes that his team will win the world championship before he graduates. As a sophomore, his team was able to reach the world finals, but wasn’t able to claim the winning title.

“This year, I hope that we can do better by spending more time designing the robot and building it in a more efficient way,” Sauer said.

No matter if the goals were seen on screen or not, Staples students are driven and hopeful that they will have the chance to check them off their high school bucket lists.

But, then again, who knows?  Of Smith’s plan can be successfully executed, Principal John Dodig’s car will be dangling from the third floor of school by the end of the year.