Being part of a family that constantly moves from country to country, I’ve accepted the fact that most of the time my tenure ends on a dejected note as I always ended up having to leave those who were my nearest and dearest. Therefore when I moved here, I would shy away from joining many of the activities, thus leaving me without any major extracurricular pursuits. But realizing that my fellow classmates share the same feeling I had to go through very often, the thought of leaving didn’t feel so bad and I had a change in perspective and I’m very thankful for that.

Although I had a limited amount of interests, I tried to make the most of them. Though it was only one year, participating in the soccer program sophomore year helped me realize what a great place school can be. I felt welcomed and was happy to find a group I fit into. In many ways sophomore year was the perfect year for me, I found success in soccer, did well in academics and even got to be known as “that guy on DMV highlights.” I was finally able to experience my ideal high school experience, and was sure it’ll keep getting better. But COVID-19 had other plans.

The end of sophomore year and the entire junior year were just shallow memories, although I got to see friends every now and then, it just didn’t feel the same, something most people can probably relate to. The feeling of being away from your close friends was back and I didn’t enjoy it. But I guess there’s always a silver lining, and fortunately senior year has been somewhat normal.

Having the freedom to take classes I liked during senior year, I finally had the opportunity to take journalism, something I’d wanted to do ever since sophomore year, when I went to a sports journalism camp at UMD and discovered my passion for journalism. With journalism being one of my few interests, I was keen to get started, and I can wholeheartedly say that taking journalism has been one of my best decisions.

Although it took me until my senior year to take this class, I’ve learned a lot. Whilst I was wary about stepping out of my comfort zone I’m extremely grateful to the Pitch staff for their feedback and unconditional support, and to Mrs. Borrelli for her constant encouragement and support throughout the year. Seriously, no other teacher would let you get away with just constantly writing about soccer for the entire year.

Though there are so many other people I would love to give a shoutout to, I just want to leave hoping that I’ve had some sort of positive impact on your life, or at least haven’t annoyed you. Although these four years have been far from what I’ve hoped, it certainly hasn’t been my worst, and one thing high school’s taught me is that not everything will be perfect and that’s alright. So whether you know me as Rucheek, Ruchka or just another guy at the school I’m glad to have shared the past four years with such great people and I’m grateful for being able to have been a small part of the WJ history.