As I sit here writing my last piece for the New Trier News, I can’t help but reflect on the past four years I’ve spent aimlessly walking through these halls. I’m left confused and conflicted, caught between optimism and nostalgia.
School for me has never been easy. Add on all the superficialities that come along with high school, and you understand my own personal heck.
Whether it be the academics, extra curriculars, or even my social life, balance and grace have never been my forte. I guess I spent so much of my time in high school frustrated because it felt like nothing ever clicked for me. What can you do, you know?
Of course as a know-it-all teenage girl, I always just assumed the whole world was working against me and that I was always right.
I would quickly find out that more often than not, I was wrong. The world was not working against me and when teachers yelled, it was just because they cared.
As I sit here reflecting on high school, I’ve only now come to realize how ~unreal~ high school was. From the friends I’ve made and the friends I’ve lost, the nights out all over the North Shore and the nights spent alone, and even the late night crams for finals; I had it pretty good these past four years.
I’m not going to deny that there were some rough patches along the road. More often than not it felt like my whole world came crumbling down. But it’s not the times that went perfectly smooth that made me love high school, it’s the times that I wanted to forget.
Honestly, if I’m laying my cards on the table just one more time, most of the people I’ve met have shown me exactly what I don’t want to be, and because of that I’m slowly progressing into a person I feel comfortable being
If there’s one lesson I’ve learned at New Trier, it’s to stop trying to fit in. I’m apologizing in advance for how cheesy this is going to be, but if anyone reads this and it helps, maybe I won’t be such a disappointment to my parents (I’m kidding, I think).
For too long at this school, I tried to fit into what New Trier has set as it’s standard of beauty or “coolness.” And for far too long I was miserable at this place.
I spent more time in high school proclaiming my hatred of this institution rather than taking advantage of all that it has to offer. And for that, I am sorry.
I guess what I’m trying to say in this pseudo-poetic way is thank you to all the Trevians, past and present, who granted me their own unique lesson about life.
Each person who I’ve talked to these four years, just know that even if we never talked again after that, you taught me something about who I am and who I’m not. And for that, I thank you.
Each teacher who I’ve had, even if I sometimes forget your name in the halls, you helped guide my intellectual journey to a place I never thought imaginable. And for that, I thank you.
Though high school was the worst at times, it was also the best.