My four years in high school went by so fast. It seems like it was just yesterday that I was starting my freshman year. Now as I am writing this, I only have one day of school left. Even though it went by fast, the last 4 years were full of experiences that I am sure I will remember for the rest of my life.
Freshman year was a year to remember because of how weird it was. I remember having to wear masks all the time and sit behind plastic dividers during class. This was the year that we were only able to sit with one person at lunch. Charlie and I were lunch buddies for the entire school year. There were countless conversations throughout the year that ended up with us not being able to breathe from laughing so hard. It was also the year that several of us ended up having a lot of free time. Since Spanish and my health class were online, I was able to work ahead on it so I wouldn’t have to worry about it later. However, this meant that I ended up playing a lot of Uno with Zoey, Kiara, Briley, Charlie, Morgan, and Aubree. I also watched a lot of Netflix in my free time. I played Pal-Hut girls basketball but it was a shortened season that began in February. There were only 7 players, so I got quite a bit of varsity time. I would have played softball freshman year but with basketball ending right before it started, I didn’t think it would be possible.
Sophomore year was when everything started to feel like normal again. Sports were during their regular seasons, which allowed people to be three-sport athletes again. This year I decided that I was going to play golf for the first time. I am so glad that I decided to join the OPH golf team because now I have such a love and passion for the sport. I finally got to experience my first dance as a high school student during homecoming. I don’t remember a lot from the dance, except that it was outside under the Main Street pavilion. This was also the year that basketball became an OPH sport. No one could have prepared me for the life long friendships that were built from basketball becoming an OPH sport. Krescence Holscher and Halle Piper got me active in Drama Club because they needed someone else to help with mics and sounds. I never thought that Drama Club was something that I would enjoy, but I was surprised. I also participated in softball during sophomore year. I only got to enjoy about 3/4 of the season though because I ended up getting injured. Overall, sophomore year was one of my more active years in sports, and I am so grateful for everything I got to experience.
Junior year was probably my second favorite year out of the four. I started taking dual credit classes through LTC, which would help me get a lot of my generals for nursing out of the way. When it came to sports, I started to really improve in golf. It was also the first year that we girls got to participate in regionals. I don’t remember how any of us did, but I do remember getting in the van with Phil, Travis (Mr. Blank), and Daylen at 4 in the morning, and that the van had died from us accidently leaving its lights on all day. Basketball season during junior year came to a sad end because Mr. Blank told us that he was not going to be coaching us anymore. One thing that I will not miss is having to study for the SAT. I remember that we were doing something almost everyday for about 2 months in order for us to get prepared. I was so glad and relieved when we finally finished the SAT. During junior year I took the stage for the first time in Drama Club for the play, Alice In Wonderland. I played the parts of a mouse and a card. I think the highlight of junior year was getting to plan and go to our first prom. While I know that prom wasn’t as fun as it could have been, I still enjoyed myself at it.
Senior year was the best year in my opinion. My senior golf season was by far the best season I had. I was finally finishing 9 holes with scores under 60. Regionals went really good, but it would have been awesome if I would have scored a little lower so I could have made it to sectionals. However, due to an injury that I played with through golf, I had to sit out for nearly half of the basketball season. When I finally made the decision to play basketball again, it was not an easy journey. There were times that I wanted to quit, but I knew the pain would be worth it. And it did end up being worth it to keep on playing. The beginning part of basketball season was the only part of my senior year that I did not fully enjoy. The summer before senior year is when I met and started dating Jonas. Being able to spend my senior year with Jonas definitely made everything more memorable. I actually had fun at Homecoming and spent a lot of time dancing because I was able to enjoy it with Jonas. The same thing goes for prom. I had a lot more fun at prom this year than I did junior year. I am so glad that I was able to have an amazing senior year. It is a year that I will never forget.
I don’t really have a lot of regrets when it comes to the past four years of high school, but there is one that sticks out to me the most. I wish that I would have continued playing softball after sophomore year. There are two memories that I think are the best from the last four years. These memories are senior skip day and senior prom/post prom. These two days were by far the most fun that I had with my classmates and the people closest to me.
I wish that my time here at PHS was not ending, but I am ready to move onto the next chapter in my life. I can’t wait to see what life has in store for me in the future. Goodbye PHS!
