TASD Senior Perspective 2023
Remember... life is full of ups and downs. Without the downs, the ups would mean nothing.
As my freshman year at Arkansas High approached, many emotions ran through my head. Of course, I was excited (who wasn’t?), but I also felt overwhelmed and scared. On August 14, 2019, I woke up thinking, “WOW, is today really my first day of high school?” If you know me, you know I had my hair curled, my makeup done, and a carefully chosen outfit. My friends always gave me a hard time because they knew I was never coming to school looking a hot mess unless, on the rare occasion, I overslept! As I was getting ready, I felt anxious about how this day and even the year would go. My mom dropped my twin brother and me off and waved goodbye.
My brother and I made our way to our group of friends, patiently waiting for the bell to ring so we could make our way to 1st period. I vividly remember walking to Mrs. Lala’s math class with friends, hoping this class would be a breeze. We walked through the halls, intimidated by all the upperclassmen. As we made our way up the staircase, I somehow managed to trip in the stairway in front of EVERYONE, immediately embarrassed. But who’s surprised? Not me. My friends thought it was hilarious, and so did I, but after this happened, I just knew it would be a bad day. Luckily, I was wrong. I was having the time of my life and was involved in many activities, such as the Redline dance team with all my friends. Sadly, after Spring Break, I didn’t get to finish the year. Thanks a lot, Covid. This was probably the most challenging thing my class went through in high school. Going from seeing friends every day to being unable to see them at all was a struggle. I ended my freshman year wondering when I would be able to see my classmates again.
My sophomore year was a strange year. As COVID was still spreading, the school gave us the option to attend school virtually, hybrid, or face-to-face. It was a hard decision, but most of my friends and I chose to go to school even though there were new rules and guidelines. For me, this was rough. I’ve always been focused in the classroom, ensuring I kept my grades up, but this was a challenge with the masks being so uncomfortable. It took some time to get used to, but that did not stop me from working my hardest to maintain good grades. Outside of the classroom, I was a lieutenant of Redline, vice president of my class, part of Razorback TV, and a bowling team member. Most of my time was spent at dance practices helping lead the team or at home studying to ensure I kept up my grades. I’m so glad we made it past this year, and things were slowly becoming normal again because I sure was ready to get out of those masks!
Junior year came, and I was so excited because I only had one more year until I was a senior. This year was my favorite year of high school. I made some of the most fantastic memories with even greater friends. I experienced high school for the entire ten months for the first time. Every week, I looked forward to Friday night. Not just because it was the weekend but because of the football games (even though I never knew what was happening and will never understand the rules no matter how many people tried to tell me). I loved performing with my team at halftime, showing the crowd our hard work, and giving it our all on a football field each week. The best part for me was hearing, “Captain, are you ready?” as I nodded my sparkly hat. Leading the team as captain that year was an unforgettable experience, and I am forever thankful for the time I had. As always, I was still hard on myself with schoolwork making sure I was excelling in all my classes. To top this year off, I was crowned Miss Arkansas High 2022. It was such an honor to represent my school. It was important to me to be a good role model and positive influence on others because of the expectations my parents had for me and the goals I set and achieved for myself.
The time finally came… my senior year. The moment we had all been waiting for. Over the summer, some bumps in the road taught lifelong lessons and required me to make very difficult decisions. Due to unfortunate circumstances, I decided to hang up and retire my Redline sparkly hat. The hardest part was that I had no idea that the last time I performed under those Friday night lights was my last. As hard as this was, I decided to try something new and move forward. So I joined the golf team and practiced more for bowling with my team, ending the season as Conference Champions and 4th overall at State. I spent more time with my family and was able to focus more on my academics and future college plans. I ended the year graduating with 18 college hours, Summa Cum Laude, and Top 10 of my class which was a HUGE goal I set for myself.
If someone asked me what my biggest lesson learned from high school would be, I’d say TRUTH. I’ve learned that only some people speak the truth. That teenagers pretend to be your friend, and adults sometimes pretend to have your best interest in mind. I’ve learned that not everyone wants to hear the truth. I’ve also learned to speak MY truth and not let others try to hide my light. I’ve learned that sometimes being truthful is lonely, and your circle of friends becomes smaller.
No matter what you do, someone will have something negative to say. Try not to take it personally. People judge and criticize other people’s lives when they’re not happy with their own.” —Lori Deschene
My senior year taught me many lessons. But it has helped shape me into the strong, truthful, independent young lady I am becoming.
