By Ben Wynd
It’s hard to believe my freshman year and senior year were even at the same school. The first semester of freshman year feels completely foreign to me now. The next four years seemed so overwhelming and I remember thinking it was going to be an eternity until I started applying to colleges. By second semester I felt like I had more or less settled into high school, however I was still maneuvering social life. It turns out that would be a complete non-issue when sophomore year rolled around.
Academically, sophomore year was the hardest year of my schooling. I got stuck with a tough combination of classes and the new pressures of extracurriculars and grades becoming exponentially more important just made everything so much harder. I spent countless nights staying up until 3 A.M. attempting to finish projects or studying for an upcoming barrage of tests. It truly felt like I would never be able to escape the workload and bad energy surrounding me. This year was tough, but two factors allowed me to grow from the work. The first part of the year that I’m so grateful for was the opportunity to take AP World History. While the class was challenging, the amount of information I’ve learned and retained has given me a more developed world view and appreciation for history. Thank you Mr. Marshall! In addition to book smarts, I was able to learn that I could persevere through a year that seemed never ending. Knowing this made me much stronger in my last two years of high school.
My workload lightened junior year and I rarely dreaded going to my classes because I knew I had the support of my friends. There was more time for me to hang out with and appreciate my friends and I think my friends would agree I became more agreeable. My junior and senior years were different than those before me due to coronavirus, but I was still able to appreciate and learn new things even during strange times. Regardless of any outside factors, I learned that having supportive friends is the difference between surviving or thriving.