Sophomore Synopsis

I can't believe the school year is over. Can. Not.

It seems like I just went into High School, yet the first day of school seems like forever ago. It's gone by so fast but so many things have happened just during the school year. Junior High seems like a world away, but I still have so many good memories from FJH. 

High School really is as good as everyone said. The homework load was sometimes overwhelming, but 2 hours didn't turn out being such a big deal. I usually had at least 30 minutes a day, but closer to the AP test it was about 4 or if I had to finish an essay all the sudden I'd realize I had been writing for 3 hours or longer! 

I am not ready to be a Junior. Everyone says it's the hardest year but I got better grades in High School than in Junior High! It will be a lot of work, but it's worth it. 

It's worth it to be nice to everyone and not cause drama so you can sign their yearbooks with sincere things because you've gotten to know them. And they actually write nice, encouraging things too like inside jokes or very kind compliments. It's worth it to try super hard in all your classes so you can see your GPA go up and know that that minus on your report card happened to be your best and that you still learned in that class. It's worth it to take AP because when you're watching Star Trek and it says "The enemy of my enemy is my friend," you can know that the Mauryans said that first in India hundreds of years ago. 

I've learned that it's not the perfect grades, it's not that extra dash of ink at the end of an A, it's not a 36 on the ACT, it's not passing every test with 100%. Those mistakes and those less-than-perfect letters are some of the most valuable lessons. Those mistakes taught you something you will actually need in the real world. Do you think 20 years from now you'll remember why the Count of Monte Cristo wanted to help Maximilian or how to convert logarithms to exponential form? Probably not. But you will remember Caroline's speech on glitter in Honors English, and getting to know a senior who played a lead in the school musical in Algebra 2. I probably won't remember the years of the Safavids but I will remember spilling a tiger's-blood otterpop all over my self in AP.

My band teacher (Mr. Hendricks) told us this. He said he hardly ever uses specific things from his High School classes, but he remembers good teachers and funny moments more than 20 years later.

So I think my Sophomore year was a successful one. I made some mistakes, I perfected some things, I studied hard, I auditioned for things, made new friends, read lots of books, enjoyed a lot of my classes, had lots of laughs. I think I've learned just as much as the 4.0 student, although I seriously congratulate whoever has a 4.0, that's not easy and it's awesome that you have one, but I know High School is about more than that. Life isn't going to be grading me on certain aspects, thankfully! My success and grade depends on my happiness and how much I decided to take away from my formal education days. I've decided to take as much as I can. I've decided to be happy now. I've decided that I never stop learning. I've decided that I won't let my teenage friendships die after college and High School. I've decided that each chapter in life is worth reading. I've decided that I'll always be a dart. I've decided to make the gospel the center of my life. And I know that that's what makes me happiest.