The time is near that I will be putting on my cap and gown, ready to go far far away from this school, never looking back. These past four years have taught me a lot about who I am as a person and what I truly care about. It is clear to me that not everyone will have the same high school experiences, and, to say the least, I feel as if my experience is one of the more unconventional ones out of them all. Here’s why:

Freshman year was one of the most practical and cliche years of my life. I was finding new friends, getting good grades, and being as insecure as a freshman could possibly be. I don’t know about everyone else, but I was pretty scared to know what was to come after these four years were up. Some of my friends wanted to be doctors, marine biologists, and so many other things that I could never relate to. This was when I also started taking this introduction class for film that I didn’t even know I signed up for. Little did I know that it would change my life forever. Fast forward to senior me: I’m still not completely sure what I’m going to be doing in the future, but I do know that film is something I will always want to pursue. So, my advice is to be open minded; you’ll never know what you’re missing out on unless you try it.

And so sophomore year rolls around, and to be honest, this was one of the easiest years I went through in high school. I was finally comfortable enough to know my way around the school and classes weren’t that wild yet, so what gives? With academics going so well, what more would I do with my time than to be involved in the cursed five letter word: d r a m a. Left and right there were secrets and rumors and fighting; I couldn’t keep up. Having bigger friend groups equals having more chances of drama. And looking back on that now, having only a handful of close friends that I would never talk bad about and vice versa, it was foolish of me to think stuff like that even mattered. Something that I’m really thankful for that some of the upperclassman told me back then was: you will lose friends. It might seem impossible in the moment, but trust me, it will happen to you and it will happen to everyone else.

Junior year: a year I so very much want to erase from my memory and overall existence. This is the part where things get weird and feelings/beliefs change for me. Being an overachiever and fairly good student, I decided to take all AP/Honors classes. Some of you reading this might say “big deal,” but to others this can become a really stressful change in environment. I never thought I would’ve had my own “mental health story” because I truly didn’t think it could happen to me. I always had my own personal issues, but when it came to school, classes, and stress, I never put two and two together with its affects on my own personal well-being. To keep it short, I learned how to put my own needs in front of what was expected of me and that’s how I got over that really rough patch in my life. It’s super important to remind yourself to accept what you can and can’t do. There’s no reason to feel like you’re a failure or even worthless in high school, because we’re all working towards the same thing here: getting out.

And last, but not least, the beloved senior year. After releasing the tension and hardship that was junior year, I (like many others) decided to take it easy for my last year. This year has been the best year of my high school experience because taking what I’ve learned from the previous years has found me my true passion, my true friends, and my true capabilities. While my plans for the future didn’t turn out how I had hoped and dreamed, I’m really glad to have figured out myself and finally feeling comfortable in my own body. One thing that really stuck out to me after reflecting on these past four years is my mentality when it came to the people around me. Throughout the years I went from a really judgemental person to a very insecure person and now I’m just glad to be talking to people I wouldn’t have even thought of talking to a couple years ago. This might be the most cliche thing I say in this article, but don’t care about what others might think about you. It’s my last year in high school and it has taken me this long to figure it out. Expressing myself and how I feel to others with no care in the world makes all the difference because in the end, you might not see most of these people ever again after high school, so practice it!

As this article comes to an end, I’d like to thank you for reading my words and letting me share my thoughts and opinions about different things. It was super fun writing for this class and I really recommend joining for anyone that might want to follow in the same footsteps. Farewell!