Going into high school they never warn you how fast time goes by. From walking into my first day at the ninth grade center in 2021 to walking on the stage at Bramlage this weekend, high school has gone by fast. 

As happy as I am to get out of high school and escape my four year prison sentence, I’m glad I was in high school. Sure the classes were almost always boring and the teachers just talked and talked, but looking past the boringness of learning high school gave me a lot of memories. 

When I look back at high school the best memories have come from soccer. Coming into high school as a tiny little freshman I never knew the opportunities I would be given at the school. I went into freshman soccer season worried I was going to be cut. Thankfully my coaches believed in this tiny freshman and kept me on the team, even though I barely played. 

It dawned on me after that season that I would have to work to play, and I did. My sophomore season I played every minute of J.V. That next summer I was certain I was going to make Varsity but was dual rostered to start the season, until the third game of the season I was given the opportunity to play Varsity after an injury. 

Once I took that field I never looked back. I started every single game to finish out my high school career. While our season ended on a bad note after our final game, I looked back at all the fun I had on my soccer journey. Every single bus ride was a new story, the conversations during warmups were something else, the team meals were amazing and I couldn’t be more grateful for that journey. While soccer was a big part of my time in high school, I am very grateful for everything else along the journey besides a few. 

Starting in 10th grade I realized I was the biggest procrastinator of all time. I would always wait till the last minute to do any assignment — including writing this while I’m finishing up this edition of the newspaper due in 12 hours. If I could tell myself anything going into freshman year it would be to never procrastinate and those two things (soccer and procrastinating) basically sum up my high school journey. 

And as Ferris Bueller once said “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once and a while, you could miss it.”