Two of the most important lessons I’ve learned during high school are embodied within Mr. Schwartz’s newspaper and journalism classes. Most people look back on high school as either the best or the worst four years of their life, but I like to think that a few years from now I’ll look back on these four years as a season of my life I am truly proud of. Your experience within the Dominion High School truly is what you make it, and the two lessons I’ve taken away from my time here are to work hard and to reach out to the people around you.

In Newspaper, you have to sacrifice time outside of the classroom in order to get the work done, and you also have to care about the material you’re covering. The same is true for all of high school. Junior year, especially, was difficult; I sacrificed so much time with friends and family to excel in my classes, and there were endless sleepless nights filled with homework. Although, at the time, my responsibilities and workload seemed brutal, I am so proud of all that I accomplished. It was during these four years that I was able to build a work ethic that has transferred over into all aspects of my life from managing baseball to working at Starbucks.

Perhaps even more important than working hard, however, is the ability to reach out to the people around you which is something heavily stressed in Newspaper class. High school is filled with its little cliques and circles, everyone stays within their little groups, and this creates a complete lack of originality as people grow to reflect their friends rather than their own selves. I truly believe that the people who have the most fun in high school are those who are able to connect with everyone around them. Over the last four years, I’ve shifted friend groups, expanded my comfort zone what seems like too many times, and met so many amazing people along the way.

As I move on to Christopher Newport University next year, my hard work will propel me toward the future, but the wonderful people who’ve helped me and encouraged me along the way are what I’ll regret having to leave behind. Having become close to so many different people within the last year, it’s eye-opening to see the different circles that people’s lives travel in. Although we’re all moving on to different seasons of our lives, and although we’re all moving on at different speeds, I’m extremely grateful for the time I’ve had with the people I love for the last four years—for the students who are sitting with me in Newspaper as I write this, for my friends Margot and Beth, for my youth group at PBC, for my amazing coworkers at Starbucks, for the hilarious baseball players and fellow managers, for my amazing DECA advisor Mr. Eifler, and for my parents. These amazing people, far more than all the hard work I put in, are what made the last four years an amazing experience for which I am truly grateful and proud.