My high school experience looks a lot like a heart rate monitor: a lot of ups, a lot of downs. However, if I learned anything in high school, it’s that the only way to survive through the downs is to focus on your past ups.

Various ups include: performing in front of thousands in Indianapolis for my last ever band performance, submitting my art portfolio I had spent a year on, becoming a newspaper editor, and two years a later a managing editor, leaving class to go talk to friends during second lunch even though I definitely had more important things to be doing, being accepted into my first choice college in my major, and all of the amazing friends and memories I’ve made in my time here.

In the future, when I look back on my time at Bowie, I’ll definitely be thinking about what I learned from my time here. Not necessarily the things I learned while studying for AP exams or in my various core classes, but all the little life lessons I’ve learned from the people here. I went from being an 8th grader with almost no friends to being a senior that was constantly talking to people with a complete confidence in myself. The people of Bowie taught me how to love and appreciate friendship, work hard to get where I want, and to speak how I feel without fear of judgement. Bowie itself taught me how to dress in layers, make my hair look acceptable even with 50 KM winds outside, and how to steal sink taps. Throughout all the different students and teachers I’ve met while staying here, I’ve learned what kinds of people I want to be friends with for life and how to stay away from the kinds of people I don’t like, I’ve adopted my own sense of style, personality, and taste that’s inspired from the people I’ve met here.

They always say that school is a learning experience, and they were right. I learned so much in my time here at Bowie, and I can’t wait for the rest of my learning experiences in life.