I have thought of so many ways to write this, and all of them just seem wrong. I can’t even put into words the experiences I had at North. It’s very weird looking back on all the years I was in high school. I really never even thought about writing this, but here I am, writing my senior goodbye. From my freshman year to now, I feel like I have changed and grown tremendously and I would have to thank the school for that. I walked into high school with my older sister Allison, and I am thankful my younger sister, Trystan, had the opportunity to walk into high school with me. Although I didn’t get a full four years, I’m still thankful for all the opportunities I was given while being a North Knight. 

I’ve learned a lot in my fourish years of high school. I learned that you shouldn’t care what people think of you, especially in high school because no one will really care about who you were in high school once you are out. I learned that it’s more important to love who you are then to be in some high school relationship. I learned that it’s important to make good friendships with not only your peers, but also your teachers. Having a good relationship with teachers was by far the most important thing I learned while in high school. I went through a lot in high school, and without the teachers I was able to talk to, I have no idea where I would be today. They taught me that I’m smarter than I give myself credit for and that I can’t always blame myself for everything I go through.

I walked into Journalism freshman year knowing absolutely nothing about it, but instantly falling in love with it. I knew it was about writing and that’s all that mattered to me. I wouldn’t know anything about the school if I hadn’t joined Journalism. I made amazing connections with teachers, students and the overall staff. I learned that my voice is incredibly important in all aspects. I also learned that teamwork is unbelievably important. 

This class has given me new friendships and reconnected my elementary school friends and I. I went from being a staff reporter to ending up as Co-Executive editor with one of the best people I know, and I have no idea why we were trusted so much with this paper. I became the editor of the centerspread, which is a lot of work and taught me how to manage my time within a singular class. I was given a teacher who supported me in everything I did in and out of school. A teacher who taught me that my writing abilities are unlike any other and that I should’ve taken writing as a future career but I decided to go to college with a dance major (sorry Mrs. Smith). 

My life really has changed within this school and within this class. I’m sadly saying goodbye to helping Mrs. Smith learn how to use technology and telling her she’s not old. I’m saying goodbye to yelling at everyone in the class when they got on my nerves. To the amazing experiences I got to have with Nadia, Miranda and Rhiannon. I’m saying goodbye to the classroom that taught me that I could finally voice my opinion (I thank Erin McBriarty for that). I’m saying goodbye to annoying Mr. Rogalski with all the environmental news story interviews I got him to help me with. I’m saying goodbye to crying in my sophomore chemistry class. I’m saying goodbye to getting mad at Mr. Sermak and leaving my US history class while having a mental breakdown. I’m saying goodbye to having one-on-one chats with Mrs. Naughton when I wasn’t feeling like myself or when I was going through a lot. I’m saying goodbye to the people who taught me that I am in fact smart and knew I had potential in me when I didn’t see it. Not only am I saying goodbye, but I’m also saying thank you. I still cry about everything (sorry Mr. Sermak I know that annoyed you), but I know I’ve grown into an amazing person, and I couldn’t have done it without any of you.