Senior Year I never thought this day would come! Looking back on my high school career, it has gone bye so fast. I remember being in eighth grade not even thinking about high school until I stepped through the doors of El Segundo High School for freshman orientation. Even though I knew most of the senior’s for that year I still had a lot more people to be intimidated by. I was not to sure of what would come from my first year of high school. All I knew was to jump right in and start moldi ng into the person I have become today. High school is the beginning of what your future could become. Some may take it as a joke and a time to party but others may take it serious and use high school as a guide for their future. I did a little bit of both. My main lessons were learned through my friendships, academics, and my athletic career as cheerleader. In my four years at El Segundo I maintained the same group of friends. My group of friends was known as possibly the more popular party kids and less academic driven. The stereotypical cheerleader and joke reputations. This may seem glamorous from the outside looking in to many people around us, but in all, the friendships with in our group faced many hardships. With the typical peer pressures with drugs and alcohol it was interesting to see how we all handled it differently. Luckily we have all made it out alive thus far. Although we all seemed to find our many differences and go in different directions with our careers in high school. I learned that the term friend’s forever is only true with the forever part. Forever I will be bonded with my selected friends from middle school, from our journey through high school. The lesson I learned from my four years with my friends is be your own person do not conform to what others want you to or are conforming to. Everyone’s journey is different and should be lived as we are, as individuals.
In high school you are told to take certain classes to graduate and really challenge your ability to succeed in highly qualified classes, such as Honor and AP classes for college. The one regret I have in my high school career is not challenging myself enough in my classes. Granted I am the only person out of my group of friends that is going to a four year University but I still think I could have pushed myself harder in each class I took. I learned that time management, persistence, and neatly presented work, am the key to the success in the classroom. I am glad I learned these lessons because they really did help me succeed in all of my classes in high school. I am excited and feel prepared for college, but at the same time I wont know what lies ahead for me until I’m there.
Some people play soccer, some play football, and others have no preference. I was a cheerleader. I have been cheering for 9 years. Although in El Segundo cheer does not measure up to softball or baseball and basically not even considered a sport. Until I came into high school cheer was really not well respected. Having to over come everyone’s mind set about the cheerleader stereo type, taught me to be strong and stand by what I believe is right. Cheerleading gave me many opportunities to exercise my leadership skills and how to work with others under pressure. These are good skills to have in many life experiences. I am proud to say I stuck with it even in the rough time it sometime brought. I would recommend incoming freshman to get involved if not in a sport, at least a club. Those experiences will teach someone how to work with others and helps make friends you never thought you would.
In the end on June 18,2009 I can only hope that I left my mark on someone still at El Segundo High School. I feel as if I had the chance to do it over I wouldn’t because those experiences are what have made me who I am today. I look forward to leave this trail behind and start my new path as a freshman all over again. This time around I am not so scared more so anxious to see what lies ahead for my future at Arizona State University and hope to make as many memories and learn many more lessons along the way.
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