Fresh out of the COVID lockdown, I started high school in 2020. At first, I was terrified to start. High school seemed like a very intimidating place. New people, new challenges, new teachers. I walked into my first day not knowing what to expect.
My first hour class was Mr. Smith. I had Biology 1. I already knew Mr. Smith, as he was my dad and my aunt’s teacher in high school, so it wasn’t anything new.
We still had to wear masks and have the plexi-glass dividers up, as COVID had not been cleared enough for us to not wear masks.
That brings me up to sophomore year. Sophomore year was interesting to say the least. I was definitely a bit more used to the high school environment, but I noticed the work getting harder. I remember my least favorite class being English, mostly because of all the reading and writing. During my sophomore year is around the time I realized that the teachers were not there to torture us; they were there to help us.
Junior year was probably one of the easiest. I had some of the easier classes. First I had Biology 2, then after that I had Spanish 2, after that I had Informal Geometry, and then English. Then came WIN and lunch. After lunch I had History and then it was computer apps and marketing. My last hour, of course, was Band.
Band has always been a huge part of my life ever since I was introduced to it in 5th grade. I’ve always been extremely passionate about it. Over the years, it helped give me something to look forward to at the end of the day. And then there was the satisfaction of playing a really good concert and he chills I’d get when we would march parades and I would hear people cheer and say we sounded good. I would like to personally thank Mrs. Stovall for stepping up at the beginning of my senior year and making this the best last year of high school. She single handedly flipped the band upside down and as she says “we be small, but we be mighty.” She took our band from crumbles and turned us into something great. We would not be anything today if it wasn’t for her seeing our potential. Yes, we had some tough times, some ups and downs, but at the end of the day, I wouldn’t want to have anyone else as my band teacher for my last year of high school.
My senior year was more stressful than the rest. College, senior pictures, last Homecoming, last parades, last concerts, last prom, and many more. Senior year opened my eyes to the real world. It showed me that it’s about to get real. Was I ready? Absolutely not. I was not prepared “to adult,” as my mother says. I was not ready to face the reality that it was last year of high school. This was my last year to be a kid, my last year to enjoy my childhood. I would not be ready for all of the last first things I would experience and how emotional they would make me.
High school has not only taught me the things I need to learn as far as education goes, but it has also taught me that it’s more important to focus on yourself and your future rather than what people think of you. It has taught me that my future can be impacted by what I do from day 1. I will always and forever be thankful for the staff and administrators from Palestine High School for keeping me on the right path and never giving up on me. I will never forget my time at PHS.
