When I look back on my high school experience, an endless amount of memories flow into my mind, both good and bad. My first memory of high school was sitting in the PAC on the first day of freshman year. I remember how excited I was for the newfound freedom that high school offered, but nervous about being at school with all of the upperclassmen towering above me. I remember Mr. Antonelli telling us how fast the next four years would go. He was right.

Sure, there were days that I never thought would end and I felt like I would never make it to senior year. But now that high school is almost over, it feels like it went by way too fast.

I will never forget the friends and memories that I have made in the hallways and classrooms of WA.

From high school, I have learned never to take any moment for granted. Although academics are most important, high school is a time to have fun and gain some independence while still having the security of going home to your family at the end of the night, so live in the moment and enjoy it.

Another thing I learned from high school is that putting too much pressure on yourself to succeed is never a good thing.

Freshman year I was stressed about making friends and keeping up academically with the rest of my class. Sophomore year I took too many honors classes and I felt a little in over my head, so my GPA was not as high as I had hoped.

Come junior year I took one of my most challenging classes, Spanish, where I struggled to keep up for most of the year. Then there was the SATs and ACTs that I spent a large portion of my time stressing over.

The beginning of senior year was plagued with stress regarding college. You can’t help but think: Am I going to get into my top school? What if I don’t get in anywhere? Are my grades good enough?

I wish I would have taken a step back and not have put so much pressure on myself. If you try your best, you will succeed. You will pass that incredibly difficult class. You will score high on the SATs. You will get into college.

High school is meant to challenge you academically, but you should never put too much pressure on yourself. Remind yourself that if you fail one chemistry test or bomb a history presentation, mistakes happen.  Learn from them, let them go and move on.

Take school seriously, but don’t take yourself too seriously. Remember to enjoy yourself along the way. You will never get to experience high school again so decide what you want the experience to look like and go for it. These four years of high school will fly by and the “real” world is coming sooner than you think.

High school is a time to take risks and challenge yourself academically and socially, so take advantage of the time you have left at WA.