High school has never been a walk in the park for me. Right off the bat, a couple days before my first ever day of high school, I was in a car accident and lost my friend Emma Sorensen. I didn’t enjoy my freshman year at all. In fact, I hated it. I hated walking the hallways in a neck brace with the feeling of every person’s eyes in the hallways burning into the back of my head. School was far from enjoyable for me.

Sophomore year came around, and it flew past in what felt like minutes. Looking back on it now, I barely remember anything.

Junior year is when everyone says you find your best friends, and that’s what happened to me. I found my three closest friends and spent every minute with them. Fall and winter flew past again, and before I knew it, I was doing school at home with my sister who came home from college and the rest of my quarantined family. Although the world was pretty terrible during this time, I was able to hold onto a lot of the things that made me happy.

I spent every day with my family and my three closest friends. When my junior year came to an end, I entered summer and my senior year the happiest I have ever been. I started training for a half marathon, I applied for colleges, and truly found myself. Now that I’m in my last couple days in high school, I have so much to be thankful for. I’m thankful for my family for being there for me every step of the way. I’m thankful for my friends for helping me find myself. I’m thankful for every high school experience I’ve had, from puking before the ACT to becoming captain of the cross country team. 


I’ve changed a lot over the past four years, but I will always remember the little girl I was. My advice to younger class men and even soon to be seniors is to not take anything for granted. Not the arguments on the way to school in the car with your older sibling, or the laughs in the hallway with your friends. Because sooner than you think, you’ll all be moving across the state, across the world even, making new friends and new memories. I am going to Minnesota this fall, where I plan to attend Winona State and become an elementary teacher.

While I follow this journey, when I become homesick, it’s these memories I will look back on. I do a lot of things for myself. I advocate for myself, and I’ll always push myself. But there are some things I do for other people.

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I’ve had anxiety over the past couple months, thinking how many miles I will be away, and how many faces I will really never see again. When I over think and question why I am going so far away, I remind myself, even though it is cheesy, that home isn’t a place, but instead the people in your life. I have my family to thank, my best friends, and my angel Moe for being by my side every step of the way.