Over the past 13 years, Westford Public Schools has granted me some of the most valuable gifts in my life. I will always look back and remember my favorite classes filled with my friends, sporting events with high energy and school spirit, class trips, and even the anticipation for the upcoming weekend. While all of these moments are memories that I will always cherish, the piece that I will miss the most about WPS is the people that it has given me the privilege to grow up with.
Ranging from my peers, to teachers, to administrators, to my best friends, the people that I have been surrounded by throughout my childhood have helped me become the person that I am today. It is truly the people that I have been around that have made my journey through WPS so great.
As an active participant in sports growing up, I have gotten to become incredibly close with several of my teammates. These relationships started as early as elementary school, and I lean on them for support in my everyday life to this day. I have played a wide range of sports up through the high school level, but basketball has always been the one I care about the most. Starting in fourth grade, I met some of my very best friends through the Westford travel basketball program, and these bonds have carried on all the way up through high school athletics. These teammates are people I can rely on whenever I am down on myself, and I am thankful to have grown up alongside them on the court.
I am also grateful for all of the teachers who have played such a positive impact on my life over the years. The teachers of WPS make school a safe and welcoming environment that I could look forward to being a part of on a daily basis. Their ability to bring their subject to life within their classroom has been so valuable to my education.
My closest friends that I have made over the years are also instrumental to who I am as a person. Having friends who I know that I can count on everyday is a special feeling that I cherish. Some of my best memories throughout my time in WPS have come when being with my friends, and I am very thankful to continue having them as friends as we enter college.
As I have grown as an individual, I have learned that it is not necessarily what one does that is important, but rather who they do it with. While I will remember the great things I have done in Westford throughout my life, it is the people I have done them with that will stick with me most moving forward in life. I have been lucky to have such quality people by my side for the past eighteen years as they have truly made me a better person, and this can be credited to the quality individuals that fill WPS.
So, thank you Westford. Thank you for giving me my people.
