Highschool

        The time has finally come where I say goodbye to all my classmates and friends who are moving onto the real world.  As I take all my final exams and final steps out of my high school, I think about what all has happened to me during my years in school...

         I think about my time from freshman year to my senior year.  As high school began for me, I was an innocent girl who didn't know much other than what others had told me.  I can remember saying, "Ew, I'll never smoke" or "I'm going to save my virginity for the special guy."  What a joke! I steadily fight with the battle to QUIT smoking and my virginity went to my friend's brother, not a special guy at all.  I had goals when I became a high schooler that quickly dissolved into just focusing on having a good time.  Each year in high school was a different experience and different important phase in my life.

Freshman...

       Freshman year,  I rekindled my friendship with the girl I call my best friend. She was a class ahead of me, so when she went off to high school, our friendship pretty much faded away.  Since we were now going to the same school, we became best friends all over again.  I think the only thing I remember learning from my freshmen year was that the party life was exactly what I wanted.

Sophomore...

        Sophomore year...oh hell, what a year. This is the year I slipped off the deep end.  I became committed to one thing... getting high, drunk, and having a good time.  Well the party life is never a good thing when it comes to school. My grades dropped drastically and I eventually just gave up on even showing up to class. I left my English class that year with a 3 average, forcing me to attend summer school. That summer I met a boy, the boy that will forever hold a place in my heart.  He was into all the things I was into and we eventually started dating.  As time went on, I fell in love and have yet to fall out. 

Junior...

        Junior year, the year I thought I grew up.  Most of this school year I was in a relationship with the boy I met over the summer.  I slowly left the party life, only returning for some reunions, ha ha. School, however, still wasn't my main focus, for I would have rather spent my time with my boyfriend and friends.  I got a letter in the mail informing me I had to go to court due to my absences and I most likely wouldn't pass the school year.  I was forced to go to school every day and actually make an effort to pass.  My grades sky rocketed! My teachers didn't believe I was capable of reaching such grades, but I proved them all wrong.  As my schooling improved, my family life didn't.  I got pregnant with the love of my life, and the baby was never born...leaving me with a feeling that life wasn't what I was making of it. 

Fina11y, Senior...

         Senior year, the year I became a woman...or the year that changed ALL my views on life.  I moved to South Carolina two weeks into my senior year, leaving all my closest friends behind.  In my new high school, I met some friends but they weren't the right friends to be hanging out with.  I went right back to partying and eventually had no stopping.  October 2nd, I got arrested with a DUI blowing a .16.  I went through multiple classes and meetings to help me with my problem.  This is when I learned I will never drink and drive a day in my life. In the mist of all of this, I dropped the party friends and became friends with some people that I will never forget.  These are the people whom have helped me stop drinking, all together, and move on to life goals.  I now will graduate with all A's and B's and leave my senior year eventually becoming a member of the United States Navy. 

         High school is all about change and hard times to shape the person you become once you enter the real world.  There is no more attending summer school for a second chance, teachers reminding you to turn something in, or any one other than yourself making you obtain success.  High school did it's job on me because I believe I've turned out better than I ever once thought.  With my knowledge and experience I'm bound to reach the highest of all levels. '

                                      Yours Truly,
                                     Amanda Rae