Time flies…

“High school goes by faster than you think, enjoy it while it lasts.” Words every senior has said to freshmen walking into high school for the first time. At first I never believed in it, but as time went on I realized I became the senior saying it to incoming freshmen. 

Starting high school as a freshman there was a lot to experience. New things to explore. Football games, Homecoming, Prom. Definitely a new chapter in my life. With that, my main goal was to make as many memories with my friends as possible. By doing so I started slacking in school and my grades were not the best. At the time I didn’t think it was a big deal since I had three more years to improve, but I set habits like procrastinating that would not be good in the long run.

Sophomore year was a turning point for me. I realized the mistakes I made in freshman year. I started setting goals for myself and started becoming more active in things around the school. One of those was listening to my freshman year English teacher and taking journalism. 

Joining journalism has truly helped me be where I am today. I went into journalism not knowing that I would soon be writing for the newspaper and eventually gaining titles like Online Editor and Feature editor. Being in journalism got me passionate about writing stories about the topics that interested me. Journalism will always have a special place in my heart as I met some wonderful people and I got to work and explore ideas with them. 

By junior year my mindset had shifted. I focused more on school than anything else. I knew from prior juniors that Junior year would be the hardest year in high school and while they were right I still wanted to prove to myself that I could change my ways and be a better student than I was in freshman year. That year had changed me and helped me become who I am today.

Going into senior year I wanted to take a step back and enjoy the last moments of high school. I realize that these days won’t come again and one day these experiences will become memories. With that being said I planned to do everything my freshman year self had wished to do. I remembered my goal from freshman year and ran with it. I got involved in everything in between senior activities and leadership roles for senior events. 

Now with graduation around the corner, I finally understand the quote from the beginning. I learned that even though there were some days that felt like high school would never end, it still went by faster than I anticipated. Like everyone, I faced my own challenges throughout high school but the friends and people around me had made it worth it at the end.