Four years ago, I stepped onto campus completely lost and asked my sister (who was a senior) for directions. Instead of telling me where to go, she took the approach of tough love and gave me advice: “Figure it out yourself.” There, I caught what I thought would be a glimpse of the next few years of my life. But as time went on, I realized that I didn’t need to tackle everything on my own. My time at Arcadia High School (AHS) is best characterized by my memories with others, where I was able to ask for help, gain support, and give to others. 

Freshman year was truly a transitional period. As someone who grew up in private schools with 40 students in each grade, I was already shocked when each period at Dana Middle School had around 30 students. AHS was completely different. I walked through narrow halls everyday seeing thousands of people, yet not knowing anyone. I got my first taste of the advanced courses and rigor of AHS, struggling through Algebra 2 Honors while hearing about fellow freshmen excelling in AP Calculus BC. I realized I wasn’t alone in this, however. I made so many great friends who could all relate to the same hardships, learned how to meet with teachers for help, and finally understood that seeking advice wasn’t frowned upon. 

The most significant point of my sophomore year was my surgery. I had torn my ACL playing volleyball the year prior and had to stop myself from things I loved: riding horses, running, going on hikes, and even putting my feet on my mom’s dashboard (which I now know is extremely dangerous). I had gone from an extremely outgoing, adventurous person to someone who was scared to make the slightest rotation in their knee out of fear of a retear. But once again, I wasn’t alone in my worries. I became best friends with someone else who had also torn their ACL and learned so much about the recovery process and overcoming my fears. Then, I underwent surgery my sophomore year and was left immobile in a wheelchair for months. I feared ostracization, managing school, and transportation delays. I didn’t know that I would have friends from each of my periods push me to my next class, teachers who understood my situation and allowed me to leave class early, classmates who would help me reach for things when I could not, and lifelong confidants that visited me at home with my favorite foods despite not being able to get out of bed. One of the hardest points of my life was met with love and support from my friends, all of whom I had met at AHS. 

My junior year at AHS was definitely the most academically challenging period of my life. The stress of college applications coming soon, my four AP classes (and three more outside of school), homework piling up, finding time for my extracurriculars, all while trying to balance a social life became exceedingly difficult. I was being challenged, but so was everyone else. By knowing this, I found that I connected with my classmates and teachers even more. Whenever I was free in my first period, I would find other people also taking AP Calculus AB and study together for whatever upcoming test we had. I talked my AP Computer Science teacher’s ear off during my second period, trying to understand concepts that couldn’t translate to me. My third period I spent learning about new people every few weeks, with our seats in Spanish switching every new lesson. AP Calculus AB was my fourth period, where I formed study groups and held weekly video calls to recall the many new concepts we learned everyday. My fifth period, AP English Language & Composition elevated my writing, analysis skills, and creativity level exponentially, all while I learned to work successfully with people who held different views, skills, and ideas than I did. I finished the day off with one of my favorite, but one of my most challenging classes, AP United States History, where I became friends with students I had never met before while bonding over our difficult workload. Being challenged academically wasn’t an obstacle, it served as a bridge where I only further connected with my peers, teachers, all while learning more about myself in the process.

My senior year revolved around my lack of attending school, specifically due to my unique opportunity as a 2026 Tournament of Roses Rose Court Princess. The second I was announced as a Princess, I was bombarded by hundreds of encouraging messages from my classmates, emails from my teachers, and reports that our ceremony had been live streamed in class. Despite barely being able to attend more than three full days of school consecutively, I felt more love and support from my community at AHS than ever before. My teachers were extremely accommodating of my absences and worked around my schedule, my classmates asked for life updates in the rare times we saw each other, and my friends cheered me on through it all.

As I prepare to walk across the graduation stage in a few weeks, I find myself reflecting on the experiences I have had and the lessons I have learned. The one constant through it all has been the people. I won’t miss the traffic on Campus Drive, all-nighters, or times where I had six tests in one day. I will miss every teacher who extended an assignment for me, every classmate whom I had nothing in common with yet had introspective conversations with, every seat partner who helped me understand a difficult concept once they saw me struggling, and every friend who had a lasting impact on my life. Because of these people, I’ve grown into someone who cannot only “figure it out” myself, but become someone who isn’t afraid of what others think, is willing to ask for help and advice when needed, gives back to others, and lives an unapologetically authentic life.