High school is the place where people are supposed to find out more about themselves, take hard classes and prepare for college. It is the place to grow your confidence. High school has taught me so much about myself, how I want to live my academic and social life in college and what is most important to me.
Firstly, high school truly is not all about the academics. Going into high school in 2022, I thought it was about getting straight A’s, taking all the honors and AP classes I could and never failing. So, I took honors and AP classes starting sophomore year, had the mentality that A’s were the only acceptable letter to get in Powerschool and focused a lot on my school work. However, looking back, I have realized that when I began to recognize that high school was not only about the academics, that was when I really started to enjoy it. I had more enjoyable days with my friends and teachers, and allowed myself to have fun while also maintaining my same mentality of working hard on my schoolwork.
Additionally, when I first came into high school, I was very nervous. I only knew a couple of people from my old middle school and I remember vividly asking everyone around me where each of my classes was, because to me, NDB was big on my first day. I struggled at first with my confidence. I was not afraid to fail, but I was afraid to advocate for myself; I was afraid of what people would think of me. With this, I did not grow into my confidence, and I struggled to branch out.
However, looking back, I have realized that throughout the years, growing into my confidence helped me expand my friendships and grow as a person. My nerves went away as I grew into my own skin, and as my realization that everyone is here to support me came. High school taught me that I cannot let everyone else’s opinions affect my experiences. I started as a freshman, scared of what people would think of me, and my nerves “controlling” my actions. Now, as a senior, I have grown my confidence, and as I go to college will not let others’ opinions diminish it.
When I was a freshman, I wanted to join the soccer team. I didn’t necessarily want to make varsity or anything, but I knew that I wanted to continue playing when my club season was on break. I made junior varsity, got MVP and I started to grow as a person and a player. As sophomore year rolled around, I made it a point to continue playing soccer. I made sure to keep up my grades in the process as I played on the varsity team.
Now, when junior year came, I was more confident as a person and a player. I wanted to play, but in the back of my mind, I wanted to play soccer and also add something to my college resume. My junior year was the year that it was setting in that I would have to write 650 words about myself, state all my accomplishments, activities and more, and have an application that was unique out of the thousands of people applying around the world. I knew that I liked the idea of working with kids, so I began to tutor a second grader through Healthy Cities Tutoring. I loved it, and it made my passion for working with kids in the future grow even more.
Senior year came around, and I was starting to write my essays and fill out my activities. At first, I thought that many activities were the way to go, having a million things to showcase. However, to be honest, I didn’t have the amount I thought was good enough. My college counselor, however, said to me that it isn’t about how many activities you have; it’s the activities that showcase you have a clear passion for something. With my tutoring for over two years, and my majors, I was applying to all relating to working with kids, I wasn’t worried about my activity list being a mile long. I was confident with the activities I had, and I was glad it showcased my passion.
Going into my junior and senior years, I thought the more activities the better. However, I slowly realized that this was not the case. I learned that it was more important to showcase one’s passion through one’s activities than to worry about how much was actually on the list. My initial idea of an activity list was quickly changed, and I am so glad that it was changed. It doesn’t matter how many activities are on your list; it matters how you make your activities exemplify your passions.
High school has taught me so much about myself, my values and what I want to take to college and beyond. I want to take with me the confidence I grew, the values I instilled, the ideals that I carried, and the knowledge I learned.
