This past week has been a doozy. From AP tests to last-minute scholarship applications, this has been one of the most stressful weeks that I’ve had in a while. 

Looking back at this moment in time, I hope in the future our brain has skimmed over the rough edges of this part of the pandemic and focused on the good things: being fully vaccinated and prepping for the future. But I think it’s useful to take this time to take a look back at the four years and how I’ve changed.

My first ‘real’ memory of AHS is being terrified as I rushed up to the Speech and Debate Room at F103 for my tryout. I looked around at all the other applicants in suits and looked down at my ripped jeans and fandom t-shirt and felt immediate regret at all my recent choices. However, I walked in and delivered a memorized speech, and guess what?  I made it. The rush of the questions and my delivery have stuck with me, and I hope they’ve hung around for you too. 

Next up, is the first day. I arrived extra early, in large part due to the nerves, to meet up with friends and walked to each of my classes before school even started. I still managed to get lost. It took nearly six months from that day for me to learn the bell schedule, although, I did manage to never get lost again. 

From losing friends to gaining new ones, freshman year was somewhat of a blur. Sophomore year is cast in sharp definition with sports, growth, and relentless change. This was a year of exertion and energy. Running back and forth and generally having a pretty good time. 

Junior year is forever split in two for me with pre-covid and post-covid being the two eras that are completely separate in my mind. Despite the struggles, the beginning of Junior year was great. I had the best relationships that I had with friends for a while, and I was happy to be where I was. Coronavirus changed this, and like everyone around me, I was stuck in a world where everyone else felt so far away. The loneliness of those early days made me lean on my sister and rely on myself.  

Senior year has in many ways been worse and better than the previous three years combined. Every day the news has announced the world is changing for better or worse and as I prepare myself to take a step out of the classroom and into the real world, I find it within myself to feel fond. Dear future me, let the rose-tinted glasses of time smooth over the edges of these four years, and appreciate high school for what it was and is an imperfect, perfect mess.