I remember back in elementary and middle school where I couldn’t wait to grow older. I would be able to drive. I would be able to live in my own house. I would be able to work a job and make my own money. I would be able to buy as much stuff as I want. Sometimes, I wish I could go back to that time.

Back to a time where nothing really mattered. Just hanging out with friends and doing dumb shit. Going to the mall and just walking around talking, not buying anything, just to kill time. Going to after school programs to hangout with friends even more. Having recess to run 5v5 basketball games.  Having not really any responsibilities but getting good grades. That wasn’t even that hard since everything was so easy back then. Everything was so much more simple back then.

There wasn’t all this stress of colleges, jobs, and life coming down all at you in what felt like a blink of an eye. Sometimes I wonder how I let time pass by. It felt like my entire high school experience was gone as fast as it started. Although it went by fast, it was an experience I’ll never forget.

I learned many things over this period of time. I learned what it means to be an adult. I learned how the real world really is. When things got hard, I rationalized in my head that there was someone else to blame. It seems childish to me now , but I felt like I couldn’t be struggling this hard with everything on my own. I came to realize that I was just going through life. 

“The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s a very mean and nasty place, and I don’t care how tough you are, it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it… nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain’t about how hard you hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward; how much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done!” – Sylvester Stallone, Rocky Balboa

Yes, I just quoted Rocky Balboa in my senior sendoff piece, but it’s honestly the truth. The real world is a shitty place. More people would rather see your downfall than your uprising. That’s what you have to use as your motivation to succeed in this world.

A shout out to my family for help supporting me through it all. I know sometimes shit hit the fan, but at the end of the day, you were still there for me. Whenever I needed any help no matter what the situation was, I knew I could count on you guys. For that, I thank you.

To some of the teachers that helped me through the way, Ms Onnis, thank you. You really helped support me through my transition from middle school to high school so seamlessly. It felt like a breeze in my freshman year. You really helped my grammar skills and made me into a much better writer to the point it’s kind of a passion. Although you weren’t too keen on my swearing (probably not in this sendoff either), you still always made me feel welcomed in class.

Mr Heath, having you as my history teacher in sophomore year was amazing. I didn’t really like history that much, but you somehow managed to make the class much more enjoyable at 9:15 in the morning. Not many can really do that. Then again having you in Government/Economics was what truly made me start writing. All your responses to my work were so in depth and great to read through, and it made me really think that I should actually try writing more often, which propelled me into asking Trinity if I could join the journalism team. For that, I thank you.

Mr. James, being in your Ethnic Studies class (and AP Psych for about 2 weeks) junior year was a real eye opener. I would say junior year was my hardest year in high school. Not even just for the school aspect but also the mental aspect. I was at an all time low that year with everything I was going through at the time. You showed the most care out of any teacher for me that year. You checked up on me to make sure everything was right and made sure I was able to pass your class. For that, I thank you.

Ms. SB, thank you for giving me the opportunity to join journalism late in the year, even though I had 0 prior experience with this class or writing at this level unlike my other classmates. You gave me the opportunity to talk about my one true passion in basketball on a much broader level and I enjoyed every minute of it.

I lost a lot of my friends from middle school and even more in high school. At times, I tried holding onto the friendships because I didn’t really want the feeling of being alone. But I learned that no company is much better than bad company. I’d much rather be alone and better myself than be with people who keep me at the bottom. I’m sure after high school is over, I’ll lose even more friends as it seems to be a trend. I’m completely okay with that fact because that’s just life. People change over time, and you have to let go of the person who they used to be. Holding onto that will only just delay the inevitable.

I used to wake up thinking I have to be the perfect person. I remember hearing to be the perfect version of myself. To work hard in school and get into the perfect college and get the perfect job. Then to work towards a perfect body. The amount of stress I felt was starting to get to me. I started to think to myself, “what does it mean to be perfect?” That’s when I realized that I didn’t want to be perfect. Perfection is the state of having no flaws. If I have no flaws, no weaknesses, then what is the motivation to wake up? I will always strive to be better than anything that came before me, but never perfect. Perfection became something I despised. 

Although my life as a high school student is closing, my life as an adult is opening. The teachings and experiences from this era in my life will never leave me. I learned so much from these short 4 years. Not even just about school, but about life. I think I actually learned more life lessons than school knowledge. I think now is the time when I can say that I am now ready to grow older.