Freshman year, I decided to try to join the yearbook. After a long conversation with journalism adviser Julie Barker, I finally decided to go with the newspaper. That single decision changed my entire high school experience for the better. These past four years have flown by, and I find myself wishing to be a scared freshman again.
The memories you make in high school are unforgettable and irreplaceable. Without my newspaper family, I do not think I would be as outgoing and have as many friends as I do now. Becoming editor-in-chief my junior year was truly something that made me, me. Becoming an editor helped me discover my true self, who I talked to, my friends and my confidence levels around groups of people.
I wish I could take back all the times I told myself I wanted to be older. Now, I am looking at the elementary schoolers wishing I was them again, all the while they are wishing they were me. High school may be difficult and discouraging at times; however, through hard work and persistence, I finally finished, and I could not be more proud. I would never have believed that these hundreds of people around me would shape me in the way they did.
While I can never get these four years of my life back again, I do not regret a single thing I did those four years. I am so grateful for the people I have met and the connections I made while in high school. No matter what, keep on going and become your true self, Emily Brinkley.
