Senior year was, by far, my worst year of high school. I could explain why; I could explain how I was in a constant state of stress, I could explain how I felt no one understood what I was going through, I could explain how alone I felt- but it doesn’t matter. Ultimately, it was my fault that I had a bad year. At some point I gave up on my happiness. I accepted that it was going to be a bad year, and that made it set in stone; I did have a bad year.

Earlier in the fall, my cousin told me about a project one of his close friends had recently started. His friend made a list after every major event in his life; graduation, the first day of college, the first day of his job, etc. The list was supposed to be a form of reflection, a time for him to reflect on what he had learned after certain events in his life. In October of this year, I created my own self-reflection list that focused on what I wanted myself to remember throughout this year. The original list spans fifty ‘lessons’ but I condensed it to focus on what I thought was important.

A note; I hope that you, whether you’re a senior ending this chapter of your life or a freshman that just began, makes your own list of reflection. A lot of times we forget to take account of how much we have grown and I found this list to be a good way to look back at the good and the bad. I hope that at the end of these four years you can look back and say that you learned a little more about yourself- I know I did.

Sincerely,

A senior

1. Emotions remind us that we’re human.
2. The quality of the people around you determines the enjoyment of a situation.
3. Your anxiety is lying to you. It is not the helpful friend it portrays to be in your mind.
4. You need one person to ‘back your play’. Whatever you do, you know they support you 100%.
5. Being ‘soft’ or ‘sensitive’ isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It makes you more attuned to other’s emotions.
6. As much as we’d like to believe that the people we love will be there for us, the fact is they won’t. Learn to be there for yourself.
7. Although we should aspire to push ourselves, know where your breaking point is. Don’t push yourself past a point where your feel emotionally overwhelmed.
8. Your peers in high school are still learning and growing too; don’t take every negative comment too seriously.
9. Listen to the opinions of those who are trying to help you, not the one’s whose intentions are to hurt you.
10. It’s not a bad thing to want to leave high school; it means you’ve learned the lessons necessary to move on.
11. Sadness, happiness, anger, and joy are all emotions and all are valid feelings that have the right to be displayed. You’re just as allowed to cry as you’re allowed to laugh.