June 19, 2011

• On graduating high school

  I graduated yesterday. The whole idea seems absurd, and yet, somehow I did. It’s funny. I feel accomplished and like I’ve grown tremendously in the past thirteen years. My mom had me clean and sort through some old school work; I was shocked by that growth I have achieved. I could barely form letters; then I formed words, sentences, paragraphs etc. Initially my handwriting was big and sloppy; now it is small, flow-y, and somewhat scripty . Those are just minor details that are easily noticeable on the surface. When I take the time to think I realize that I was born without that which I almost take for granted now; I was absent of knowledge; I was uneducated. Purely through the blessing of my environment have I been able to learn everything I have; other people are not as lucky. Throughout my thirteen years in my town’s exceptional public school system I learned to read; I learned to write; I learned to hone both those skills; I learned to paint; I learned to draw; I learned. This fascinates and amazes me; my teachers’ dedication has taken me to where I am academically at this point.
  
  
  
  
  My astonishment doesn’t end there; I am also in awe over myself and changes that have taken place because of me. Over thirteen years my interests have stayed virtually the same. I’m not sure if this is due to my not exploring many diverse clubs in high school (or even just that my high school didn’t have very many clubs of such to begin with), or that I am just a person rooted to the core in certain interests. Who knows? This was just encouragement in the right direction. Sometimes I wonder if I’m deluding myself into thinking I should be this or should not do that; sometimes I just doubt myself and where I’m going. I don’t mind that, but it was a good reassurance to see that where I’ve come from is not just a more recent passion.
  
  
  
  
  I also found some reassurance in the fact that my grades were typically A’s and B’s in both elementary school and middle school. Somewhere between middle school and freshman year of high school I stopped caring about putting out the extra effort to make sure my grades were fantastic. Maybe part of it was due to my being able to get by fairly well without studying in middle school. I honestly don’t remember. I only remember that I came back with full force effort junior year of high school because I realized that I had to. I slacked off my freshman and sophomore year of high school; my freshman year GPA was around a 2.68 and my sophomore year was around a 2.75. I didn’t try; I didn’t do my best, and it only hurt me. I put forth most of my effort during my junior year even though I got a little distracted second semester; I had a 3.47 GPA for the whole year. People think that senior year is the year that no one puts any effort into, and that no one cares about it. I didn’t take that mentality; senior year was my year to shine and prove how far I could really go. I’m proud of what I accomplished this year. I finished off first semester with A’s and A-‘s and I finished second semester with those same grades but a B in an AP/Honors level English class (I was only in it for one semester). With those grades I received a 3.77 GPA for my senior year. I’ve learned the power of doing my best and putting forth the effort. I’m taking that with me to college next year. I refuse to cheat myself out of what I deserve by being lazy and doubting my abilities.
  
  
  
  
  After realizing what thirteen years of intense education has done for me I can’t wait to see what my time at college will do. At the risk of sounding cliché I will dare to say that I am only moving up in the world.

  • 8:08 am
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