To The Future Experiences

High school, those four years of your life in which a plenitude of events that shape and mold you into an adult happen. Though I may be in my first year I already know that high school is not just for the education I mean sure it is important but the years you are there are where you are supposed to find who you are as a person. The experiences and life lessons that are taught through a multitude of different events are the true and most meaningful part of high school. To start us off with what school is and what we as students need to experience in our high school journey this video talks about how we need to focus more on preparing for life than the next big test.

Video Link: Prepare Our Kids for Life, Not Standardized Tests Ted Dintersmith 

My overarching goal in my high school experience is to get the most out of it as I can whether it be through lessons in or outside of the school grounds. And with there being a total of eight more weeks left within my first year I can tell that the ride ahead of me is going to be crazy with some twists and turns at every high and low point within my life. As I go on to next year there a couple highlights that will always stick with me even beyond my schooling years. At the beginning of the year, I came in as fresh meat to the high school experience with the only possible guide to the place being my older brother, who is a junior, and he ditched me as soon as we got on school grounds. I was not scared so to say, I was not nervous either, and I did not feel lost rather I felt like I was where I need to be and sure being in a new environment was a little scary but my excitement was overwhelming for my coming adventures. My first year definitely did not let me down with a couple of amazing teachers whose advice and encouragement will stick with me until college and beyond, be joining a sport and enjoying having a team that was beyond friendly along with having people I will cherish, and a bunch of lessons that I learned from mistakes and failures.

If I were to take one thing from my first year though it would definitely be my decision to go out for my swim team, this experience opened my world to future possibilities and exposure to working with a team. As a shy kid who always kept his friend group small and kept to himself going beyond my comfort zone was a struggle and something that I really wanted to work on as I progressed through this year. I remember the day I decided to go and sign up for the swim team (I was so scared that my older brother had to force me to go) and as I was sitting at the table quietly looking around minding my own business. As I was signing up I don’t quite remember what it was but something made me feel that feeling I had at the beginning of the year, that feeling of being where I should be. For the three months that I swam with my team, I thoroughly enjoyed being around and hanging out with the people on my team every meet and team dinner we had even though I seldom spoke it was an environment I felt welcomed in. When the season was over I felt something was missing I couldn’t tell if it was the swimming or the team I missed more and to be honest today I still don’t know but there is one thing I am certain about. I had successfully gone and created relationships outside of my own bubble, I took a risk and participated in a sport that was more of a hobby to me at the time and in return, I got the amazing experiences I did. Within the three months of my swim season, I learned what it means to be dedicated to a sport, what an awesome team was, how to go out of your comfort zone, how to actually swim, and so many more lessons that I probably can’t recognize right now but will appreciate better later on in life. This year is one I will remember not just because it was my first year in high school but rather because it was the year I decided to do something more something different. But hey I’m only a generic student so what about this is beyond the normal standard of a high school student? Welp guess I’m more normal than I thought so, huh well then I will see you the next time I want to rant about something whenever that is.

– A Generic Student