This is about my third time trying to write this, after erasing paragraphs that just weren’t right to me. I just don’t know where to begin. Niles West has been good to me these past four years. A place where I learned about the World Wars or just the politics going about in school. A place I met some of the most inspirational people, whether they were teachers or students. A place where I grew up, and only realizing now how much.

With only a week left of my whole high school experience, I realized how grateful I was to have a place like Niles West to grow and start an identity for myself. Before freshman year, I was basically dragged to tryout for poms by my friends in middle school. I can’t thank them enough for doing that. After making poms and being on the team for the full two seasons for four years, I don’t think I’d be able to say I’m the person I am today without those experiences. Some people  think I’m crazy for saying how poms can change someone’s life like it’s not even a “real” sport (I would like to see you engage every single muscle on your body while mentally counting and following the beat, and occasionally jumping and flipping people on the right count), but it taught me the importance of teamwork. Having a supportive coach and a bright bunch of girls was like a second family to me. I could always turn to them, whether it was school related or one of those life questions that struck me randomly throughout the day. I became a dancer, a teammate, and a friend.

If you asked me in the beginning of the school year, I would have no doubt told you how excited I was for college and how I couldn’t wait to leave high school. That’s not entirely true now. It’s a bittersweet feeling, these last couple of weeks. Even if you weren’t that close to your grade, Niles West was home. A comfy and safe place where everything wasn’t a mystery. I’ve had my share of mistakes, but so has everyone else. There’s no time for regrets, or having one single mistake telling you how to live life. Looking back, I wished I’ve done stuff differently, or joined more clubs, or talked more with this group of people. You may think the four years here are going to drag until eternity, but that’s absolutely false. As cliché as it sounds, whatever amount of high school you have it’s going to go by quick. Some days might seem longer than others, but I still can’t believe I’m graduating in a week and a half. I’m no longer a high schooler.

All of these people, the administration, teachers, leaders, etc., have devoted their lives to help us. Students entering or leaving this chapter of our lives. These people we don’t say thank you to enough. The people we turn to for help, and them being our conscious through scheduling classes, friend drama, and choosing the right college for us.

Throughout my four years, I always thought leaving a mark on the whole school was something to strive for. Leaving a mark on a record for a team or being academically recognized, I thought that was what made a high school experience complete. However, it wasn’t the “leaving the mark on the whole school” but leaving something behind for someone or something. It could be with a special teacher that has gone through all the rough patches of your four years, or a memory like the Lit Center and tutoring others. As I make my way through the next chapters of my life, I hope to type nileswestnews.org back into the url and remind myself of what to do as I start something new.