High school has been a rollercoaster of events, memories, emotions, and more. A lot of people told me in the beginning that high school would be the fastest four years of my life but would be difficult to get through, which it was. I found high school stressful but fun at the same time.

I cannot explain how fast high school flew by; it feels like yesterday that I was walking in the high school doors on orientation day. At orientation I was anxious, nervous, and stressed about attending a school with kids 3-4 years older than me. Not only that, there was also the stress of finding extracurricular activities, getting hours of homework done, and trying to find my classrooms. But, the most important thing was finding who I really was.

Freshman year was definitely the hardest year for me. It was a new school with new teachers and more work. I had trouble adjusting to everything at first and had to adapt to new learning techniques which took me a while to get the hang of. After I found my rhythm, I was fine. I do wish I did more my freshman year to adapt a little faster.

Sophomore year was also a little hard due to us switching to block scheduling. I had to adapt to a whole new way of learning with longer classes which in the end didn’t really feel that much different. We even got a little more time for homework since we would not have the same classes everyday. I also got to get a lot more credits due to the longer schedule which definitely helped looking back now. Junior and Senior year were the two years people always told me would be the hardest. I didn’t think that it was that hard, but then again COVID and Remote Learning changed the nature of the workload. I only got to spend half of my junior year in school, and by March 13th that all changed. COVID hit and forced everyone into at home learning. To be honest, I was able to adapt well to remote learning. I found that I worked well at home. I felt less distracted than in school, and I went from being a B/C student to an A/B student.

Then Senior year came, and things stayed the same. I was remote the whole year and my grades remained high. I got honor roll two times this year which I have not gotten in a long time. I got to take classes I wanted to this year which allowed me to have an enjoyable senior year. I took the academic classes needed in order to graduate, but I also took interesting electives to fill the other spots.

I want to thank all of my teachers for an amazing four years. Without you, I do not know if I would be where I am today. I want to especially thank Senora Blanchard for teaching me that I love Spanish, but also for taking care of me when I needed it most.  I made so many memories that year that I will never forget. I am sad to be leaving JCHS but I am so thankful for her being an amazing Spanish teacher. I also want to thank Mrs. Gencarelli for teaching me patience and strength, but also for teaching me how to read and write better.

Overall, I want to thank JCHS for everything they have done for me these last four years. While I am sad to leave, I will always remember the memories I made and visit whenever I can. For all you freshman, sophomore, juniors, and upcoming seniors, just remember to enjoy high school because it flies by faster than you think it does. Live life, take risks, and enjoy it!