High School

As exams approach and graduation creeps closer, the reality of every seniors' situation is becoming more clear: high school is coming to an end. We're all preparing for the rest of our lives and getting ready to take a step into adulthood. Although everyone had a different high school experience, I'd like to spend this blog reminiscing on mine and how it changed me for the better.

Freshman Year: 
The first day of high school I was nervous. I was going into a foreign environment with only a few of my friends from middle school. My parents had set high expectations and I knew I would have to work hard in order to meet these demands.While living up to these standards, I was also trying to meet new people. Although I was a little worried about making friends, it all turned out alright. My best memories from freshman year are easily the football games. Every Friday night I'd go out to the games with my friends and we'd try to meet girls. It usually didn't work.

Sophomore Year:
Sophomore year I was much less focused on school and more interested in hanging out with my friends. I lost sight of the bigger picture and my grades started to slip. I knew I should have done something to change this but the fact of the matter was I just didn't care about school. Eventually, my brother in college gave me a call and told me I was letting my future slip through my fingers. This served as a huge wake up call for me and I hoped more than anything that it wasn't too late to make the people who cared about me proud. Although sophomore year was a major lapse in responsibility for me, I'm glad it happened when it did. By the time I was getting ready for junior year, I had reevaluated my goals and I was more ready than ever to do big things.

Junior Year:
I knew I was looking for a challenge and that's why I chose to do the IB program. I had never experienced anything even close to as rigorous or demanding as the IB program and at times I thought I had made the wrong choice. However, the program also had its perks. I was surrounded by like minded students who valued their education and this was a drastic change compared to the academic classes that I was taking the year before. I was able to get in with a good group of friends while also flourishing academically. Although during many times throughout my junior year I was ready to give up, I kept going and was able to reach all of the goals I had set for myself.

Senior Year:
Whoever said senior year is easy is a liar. This was by far the hardest year of my high school experience. However, it has also been the greatest year of my life. Some of my best friends today are people that I never even talked to before senior year. I learned that even though your friends will joke around and give you a hard time, they've always got your back when it comes down to it. I've become extremely close with all of my friends and leaving them next year is going to be difficult. However, senior year isn't quite over yet and I'm looking forward to the time we have left.

Next year will be the start of something amazing as we all go our separate ways in the world. I don't necessarily think it will be sad leaving all of my peers because I know that each and every one of us is moving on to better things in life. There are a lot of people that had a significant impact on my life over these past 4 years and whether it was positive or negative, I'd like to thank you all for making me the person I am today. Although leaving everyone after summer will be difficult, I think it is important to cherish your high school memories. That being said, I'd like to urge you all to not get caught up in the past, but to look forward to the bright future that each one of us holds ahead.