Nobody enjoys saying goodbye, especially myself, and although a goodbye must be said, I’d like to reflect on the previous four years, and how my life has changed for the better since then. 

I moved to Bealeton in 2019, when I moved, I had told all my friends we’d stay in contact with each other but that didn’t work out, so when I entered 7th grade I had to start over and make new friends, which felt difficult because I was the “new kid” and most of the other students already knew each other. While in Middle School I would meet a lot of people through my friend Elijah, but most people were just passing interactions not exactly friends. By the time I entered High School in August of 2020, many hobbies like painting, writing, and playing viola had begun to fade in interest, likely from the evergrowing staleness of doing nearly the same thing during the 2020 Pandemic lockdowns. While my interest in hobbies faded, I became more anti-social and grew many insecurities, which led me to grow distant from many of my friends, these negative aspects would follow me as I transitioned from virtual to in-person school. In Freshman year, I had one friend who carried over from Middle School, Dominic, who, at the time was the only person I talked to. Throughout all of freshman year, I placed zero effort into anything, which negatively affected me further. I had taken journalism in my freshman year of High School, however, due to the limitations of online learning, I put minimal effort into most things, and there would be no significant changes until the second semester of my Sophomore year when I returned to the course in 2022. When I returned to the course there was a new teacher in charge, Mr Sealey, a teacher who enjoyed the content he taught. With Mr Sealey, we delve deeper into journalism and writing styles, which sparked my interest in writing once more. I began to write articles and quickly went from Entertainment writer to Editor for the Patriot Press. 

Mr. Sealey was accommodating and ensured students understood the material which sparked my interest in writing again. Another teacher who heavily impacted me was Madame Dorsey, the French teacher at the time. Madame Dorsey was similar to Mr Sealey in many ways, she loved her job and always shared her hobbies and stories with her students, both teachers created very positive environments and caused my interest in their respective topics to grow more. 

My self-confidence would remain small and wouldn’t change until I met Jaina. Jaina was someone who I would speak to briefly now and then but everything changed when she invited me to go to an LHS football game. It was the first time I had hung out with someone outside of school in three years, and at first, I was nervous, my insecurities created fears that I would come off as uninteresting or some other negative connotation. However Jaina would bring a lot of energy and excitement that eventually made me feel comfortable with being myself and although a few moments were awkward, (all thanks to me!), by the end of the game, we were having a great time. To most people, it may seem like an insignificant moment but at the time, and still to this day, it was one of the most important moments of my life so far. After that night, I wanted to be more outgoing, meet people, and make deeper connections. As the school year continued I would join more groups/clubs. Model UN/Debate, French Club, and Esports would be the most important to me as they would be the programs where I make new friends and develop the strongest bonds with them.

From Sophomore to Junior year, things only got better and I assumed it would continue for Senior year, unfortunately, it would not start that way. On August 2nd, 2023, my dog Charlie would unfortunately pass. Charlie was my first official pet, and I loved him more than anything, his death struck me incredibly hard, and for months it was all I would think of and I began to spiral back into the state I was in during freshman year, like distancing from friends and not taking part in the clubs I joined, but two new figures supported me through it. Mr. Schoen and Mrs. Zimmer would be the biggest sources of support at the time. At this point, I no longer had Mr. Schoen as a teacher however I’d still talk to him whenever the opportunity presented itself. I never directly shared the death of Charlie but Mr. Schoen would use his dry and sarcastic sense of humor to lighten the mood. Like Madame Dorsey and Mr. Sealey, Mrs. Zimmer and Mr. Schoen created positive environments and influence in the classroom, which was a perfect environment to be a part of during a dark period. As the first semester approached a closing, I worked through accepting Charlie’s death and began new hobbies to keep myself busy. I would create a band with my friends (Stri. Veband on Instagram) and learn to play drums to keep myself busy and learn a new skill. I would go to events such as the LHS “Trunk or Treat”, I joined the National Technical Honor Society (NTHS), and the most recent addition was joining the school’s theater production and playing a Zombie for the show “10 Ways to survive a Zombie Apocalypse”. My role was minor but it was an amazing experience from start to finish. Thank you to Mrs. West and everyone involved with the production of the show for such an incredible experience.

My classes were going great, and I got accepted into Shenandoah University for Film Production. Another major accomplishment was being titled LHS’ Student Journalist of the Year, having my articles published in the division news and so many more special things. I’ve loved writing articles, and although not every single one got published, I still enjoyed interviewing people and writing about a local event or the latest blockbuster movie. My biggest hope in journalism, after I leave the liberty, is that someone else will continue writing about many topics I have covered such as the ever-growing Esports, up-and-coming bands, school clubs, or a local event. Thank you to Mrs Zimmer and Mr Sealey for guiding me through Journalism, which helped a lot with improving my writing and public speaking.

Now I sit here, writing about some significant aspects of the past four years. High School was a journey that I despised, and yet I can’t help but love it. The experiences I went through would likely not be considered extraordinary, but I think that’s what made my time in High School special, every person met, football game, soccer game, esports match, every time I missed the bus or every practice for the graduation band performance, to me it’s the simple things that make life enjoyable. Although I occasionally sit back and wish I could’ve done things differently, like joining one of the many school bands, joining certain clubs, or pursuing my interest in music, I would never change anything because it taught me to chase my dreams and interests before the opportunity escaped. I still struggle with confidence and anxiety around certain people and places however compared to where I was at the beginning of high school, I’ve improved exponentially. I don’t know what the next phase of my life will look like but I know I will carry the memories, lessons, and relationships made in Liberty High School for many years to come.