In 2015, my sister Olivia Williams graduated from Arlington High School. After the ceremony, we treated her to dinner at IHOP. Between bites of pancakes, I remember my sister telling me, “high school is what you make it to be.” As I come towards the end of my own senior year, I can see now how incredibly right she was.

My senior year has been the best and worst year of my entire school experience. Lots of firsts and lots of lasts were sprinkled throughout this year. When amazing things happened to me, I felt a level of happiness that had been unknown prior. When people hurt me, it hit me so badly in a way that I had never felt before. My entire persona in high school can be summarized in one word: scared.

I was terrified of other people’s opinions, what people thought of me, how I appeared to people, and about what people said behind my back. If I can appoint my biggest regret from high school, it is caring too much about what other people thought. In life, there’s always going to be someone who doesn’t like you, no matter how kind, intelligent or beautiful you are. The only thing that matters is if you like yourself, and I hate that it has taken so long for me to come to terms with this. 

I didn’t like who I was, so I counted on other people to care about me so I didn’t have to do it for myself.  It has taken me until now to see that I was wrong, and that the only person I need to give all my love and devotion to is myself. I’m not the best, I’m a little broken and need some work, but I’m proud of how far I’ve come.

High school does not define a person, this is only the beginning of my life, and any minor setbacks I’ve had are lessons to be learned. On June 3, high school will be nothing but a past life. I will be closing that chapter in my life and starting my future. I may not have done all the things in high school I wanted to do, or been the person who I wanted to be, but I’m slowly but surely taking the steps towards being the girl who I am meant to be.

To all of my fellow seniors, I hope you are able to go forward with peace with yourself and optimism about the future. I am so proud of all we have accomplished as a class, and I wish the very best for each and every one of you.