Looking back on my history at WJ, there have been good memories, bad memories and things I regret. I remember my first time walking into school back in 2022 being an entirely different person. I moved to Maryland in January of 2022 from Buffalo, New York and I don’t even think I would want to have a conversation with myself from four years ago.
These four years at WJ have molded me into the person I am today, from the way I dress, the music I listen to and even who I hang out with. Something about high school was a reality check; for example, I always thought I was tall, standing at 5’3, until I saw high schoolers and, honestly, I thought I was cooked until I got a growth spurt.
Looking back on my high school years, freshman year was and always will be the best year of my life. I met so many new people and I looked forward to school, but sadly, that year went by so fast that I couldn’t even embrace all of it. Unfortunately, sophomore year was the exact opposite. I wanted to grow my hair out, but for some reason, the whole first semester, I was missing a part of my hairline, so I wore beanies every single day. I also had zero fashion sense and was experimenting with clothes, which was a horrible choice. I feel like sophomore year was a filler year to build myself. I started expanding my music taste from basic mainstream stuff into things I wouldn’t usually listen to due to meeting new people and being influenced for the better. Junior year was the start of change again. I felt like I was maturing and truly becoming conscious of the world around me. I started seeing and understanding things and I overall felt like I was growing up. My senior year was the year that set my identity in stone. I was at the point where I felt like I was stronger mentally and had experienced things that would prepare me for the real world once high school was over.
I’m really grateful for everything that’s happened to me during high school and for all the great people I was able to become friends with at WJ. These few years will be some of the years I never forget down the line and I’ll surely reminisce on the memories made, either good or bad.
