If I could go back and talk to my freshman self to give her one piece of advice, I would tell her to take the hard classes. 

Now I know most seniors would say don’t stress as much about grades, or make sure you plan your schedule so you have early release, but I would tell my freshman self to not feel scared or overwhelmed as she takes classes throughout her high school experience. 

I remember walking into a pure European history with Mr. Kane Davis my sophomore year and being absolutely terrified that the AP test was looming over my shoulders. But this was the class where I fell in love with courses like the AP courses offered at Manhattan high. All my peers were super excited to learn and engaged in each lesson. And my teacher was so amazing at breaking stuff down to a high schooler’s level of understanding, despite the coursework being that of a college level. And yes, I was still nervous the day of the test, but I was much more confident in myself after having the year to learn how to study how to write and how to comprehend information.

However, my junior year is where it got serious. I somehow wound up with three AP classes and MATC public speaking. However, in my AP classes I was able to apply the principles I learned in AP European history to study and do assignments, and I ended up having a blast in each class. Sometimes lessons went by quickly, and I didn’t get the best understanding, but I always had a classmate or a teacher to reach out to. 

Without these AP classes I would not have become the student I am today because they showed me the importance of time management, productive learning and using one’s resources.

Out of all those hard classes, though, public speaking was the one I was most scared of as I was very shy my freshman and sophomore year. I did my best in class to write down the best notes possible, prepare all my speeches and work on my presentation so I wouldn’t break down in a nervous sweat each time I presented. However, the class ended up being fun as I had multiple peers to work alongside with and present in front of. It was fun to see my friends grow and learn alongside me in a harder class. 

This was also the class that completely changed my high school experience. The public speaking teacher convinced me to join student media where I found that yearbook design was “my thing” at MHS. Without taking that college level public speaking class, I never would’ve found the media class that I look forward to going to every day. 

So, I would tell my freshman self, even if you think it’s going to be hard, even if you’re worried about getting a bad grade, don’t be afraid to challenge yourself because you never know what you’re going to learn and who you’re going to meet along the way.