High school is never like in the movies with everyone having school spirit, excitement over sports events, having fun, and actual participation in school spirit week. No, high school is harsh sometimes. The reality is everyone is on their phone 24/7 or just really not sociable. There is always this notion of being tough and keeping a small circle of friends and not being truly yourself. In my high school experience, I tried to get involved, and that’s why I joined journalism to stay connected with Parkdale and tell everyone about the news around us. 

Additionally, I was part of the Parkdale band freshman year ( yes I was a band kid from elementary school all the way through freshmen year) and yearbook (even though I hate my senior picture). But it was fun. I miss just worrying about grades and the next math test. I miss the jealousy of my friends not coming to school because of a doctor’s appointment or the excitement everyone felt when there was a snow day. Or even as a kid in elementary school during the winter season and watching old Christmas movies and eating one-tenth of a slice of pizza that the teacher bought.

Because of this, I felt like I cherish my senior year. I’m really aware that I’m never going to experience this type of relaxation ever again because the more I get older, the more I’m going to have to worry about bills, insurance groceries, and more.

I know I’m going to miss high school in general, though I had a lot of ups and down because of COVID-19 and the embarrassment I endured doing my workouts on Zoom for gym… or having my camera on and hurrying to fix my appearance so it didn’t seem like I just woke up!

And even though I’ll miss it, I do have some regret.

My regrets in high school I had was not playing any sport in high school. I had an interest in wrestling because my cardio sucked and I knew wrestling involved more in strategies and muscle power. I also regret not joining a club or being a part of the SGA group. I realized that as I was just a part of the SGA class and saw how they made an impact on the activities for the whole school and for seniors like me. 

However, my piece of advice for freshman or anyone in high school is to enjoy it and have fun. You’re only going to be a teenager once, so make memories, get into good hobbies, and start building good habits because when teachers told me in freshmen year “four years are going to past by before you know it,” I didn’t believe it. And as a person who’s about to graduate, they weren’t playing: 4 years passed by fast as a blink of an eye.