Genevieve Case

My freshman year of high school was an amazing eye-opener for me. I met a greater variety of people in a single classroom at high school than I did in my entire grammar school career. I have met people with long hair, short hair, black hair, and purple hair. I have met people with different religions, and others with no religion at all. I have met people who are two years ahead of everyone else, and others who are two years behind. There are jocks, musicians, bookworms, and others with interests outside the school, but no one is judged for that; people can be whoever they want to be. I admit, all this freedom of expression was overwhelming to me, but at the same time, it was refreshing. Meeting so many different students, and also teachers, with so many different interests made me that much more interested in meeting more people. This experience made me realize how valuable the social aspect of a public high school really is. In the future, when I go to college and begin my career, I will be meeting and working with people who have different backgrounds than my own. For this reason, I will never regret the decision I have made in attending a public high school.

I have heard adults tell me that high school is going to be the best four years of my life. So far, they are right. I am so grateful for the opportunity to experience a public high school. I cherish every experience and relationship that I have made in my first three years of high school so far. Of course, as I move on with my life, I will value the education that high school has granted me. But it is the relationships that I have made with students and teachers that I will take with me as I graduate high school and move on to college.