When I was younger and I imagined how my life would be as a high schooler, I never imagined it would feel like this.

I remember playing Barbies with my sister, always the same high school scenario as if it was the most glamorous place in the world. The locker filled hallways, the passing periods where kids pulled out their cell phones, the gyms decorated for dances: high school was on a pedestal, the only rite of passage I’d need in my future. I never imagined the amount of pressure that would plague my afternoons, the constant internal war in my head of sleep vs. work, and I never would have thought that I’d rejoice by binge watching my favorite TV shows on Netflix on a Friday night.

Sometimes, I feel like a cynical old lady with glasses down low on my nose, always whining with my fellow peers about work load. Other times, I feel like I’m running through high school like a toddler in a world where everyone else knows exactly what they are doing and I’m still learning how to walk. It’s easy to be discouraged in a place that is historically supposed to suck.

I may have just depressed you. Maybe you’ve stopped reading at some point and started reminiscing while staring blankly off in the distance. Don’t worry, I’m about to get super positive and only slightly cheesy.

Certain situations within high school seem to be unexplainable and unfair. You can see this everywhere, whether it be a placement in orchestra, or getting points off on your math test for “not showing work.” However, these instances are assembling a path for you and your future. I would never have started to write for the newspaper if I had been elected to Student Alliance and look at me now! *wink*

As the reality sets in that my high school career is 3/4 of the way over, I realize, through all the turmoil, how much I have grown into someone I’m happy to be.

The ideals I once had in middle school were flushed down the toilet with my Avril Lavigne phase long ago, and in her place stands a more solid and secure person,  not to mention a pretty dashing personality. *Second wink*

As freshman, I’ve noticed we generally try to fit in with each other and remain under the titles given to us. We reshape ourselves to conform in all areas of the spectrum.  As we get older we learn that being ourselves, as cheesy as it sounds, is the only way to be totally happy.

As the year comes to an end we can celebrate as freshman, sophomores, juniors, and seniors alike that each year we are morphing into more distinguished, strong, and better versions of us. A better version who has learned, along with the Pythagorean Theorem, to love ourselves for ourselves.

Remember that as easy as it is to consider the stagnant daily grind, the minute you think back to the whole ocean of high school you will at once realize that the waters have been in monsoon mode the whole time. And that is the scariest part of it all. I hear that every senior looks back and can’t believe the four years went by so quickly. I’m positive a year from now I’ll be feeling this exact way. In the meantime, we may embrace what it is to go through high school, embrace the tribulations that accompany being a teenager, and embrace growing up together.

And in the meantime, have a good summer you guys; you’ll see a lot of me next year. *final wink*