High school has really been an awesome four years, and I feel it has built a fantastic foundation for my college years and on. Despite this, I and many others have had to hurdle many obstacles over the past four years, starting in freshman year with learning through a computer screen. 100% would not recommend it!
Sophomore year was an eventful year to say the least. On one hand, the shock of high school really hit. After the last real time being in school, being in 8th grade, everything was faster, more advanced, and required much more time and effort than anything in middle school. This was a difficult time for me, and my grades suffered, but the flipside of my sophomore year was what it taught me about adapting to an unfamiliar environment. I knew in person sophomore year would be tough, but I didn’t prepare myself enough. I hope to take that experience as a tool for when I do it all over again next year as I drop myself off in the middle of Indiana with so much to figure out.
Sophomore year was also the time I became friends with most, if not all of my current friends. Going into COVID without a solid middle school friend group left me in a spot to really decide what I wanted to do with my time in the post COVID world. I’m glad I made the choice I did because knowing there was always a hang out at the end of the week really gave me the sense of belonging and helped me know that there were people I could talk to if need be.
While all of this was going on, my photography career and the eventual steps to working on The Pitch came about. I had really no motive that first day I sat down on the sidelines of a JV lacrosse game, but I have no idea where I would be if it weren’t for that curious sophomore just trying something new. Taking a few lacrosse pictures with my dad’s old camera has turned into one of my biggest passions and hobbies so far in my life. So many opportunities and cool experiences have come about, and I wouldn’t change any of the steps I have taken to be where I am today. Taking pictures all throughout my junior year made joining The Pitch my senior year a no-brainer (especially with Mrs. Borrelli being so open to lending me expensive camera equipment).
This senior reflection is very representative of my high school years. To no surprise, the due date of this reflection has yet again turned into the “do date.” Out of everything I’ve learned throughout my high school years, the one thing I would tell an incoming freshman is don’t start procrastinating or you will never stop.
Disregarding my senioritis, the two main takeaways from my high school experience I would like to highlight are: one, stay on top of your school work. That’s what we’re all here for, and that should come before anything else. Second, be open to trying something new. If you had asked me my freshman year what one of my biggest passions was by the end of high school, I would not have said photography. For me, high school was about finding myself. Though you don’t need to find yourself, there are many opportunities to do so while in high school, so why not at least try?
