Be the Best You

At the beginning of my freshman year, I was scared to be myself. I was scared to be made fun of, I was scared to be laughed at. I did not want to stand out or to be noticed. I wanted to just be there. As freshman year went on, I was starting to be noticed more because of the sports I played. Then it happened, the moment that changed me and my family’s lives. The moment that got me recognized in the worst way possible. My mom was driving late at night and she crashed into a tree. The left side of the car was mostly the part that got damaged. The front left tire was smashed so far back that it was under my mom’s foot, crushing it. She had a passenger in the car who got burns from the airbags and had a bone chipped in the knee. The car was on fire and luckily she crashed near a farm and those kind people helped put the fire out; if they were not there, my mom would have died. The passenger was able to get out of the car and call for help while my mom was stuck in the car in extreme amounts of pain. She broke her hip, crushed the bones in her foot, broke a rib and had many burns on her face. I got a call at 11 on a school night saying that my mom got in a serious car accident and that she was going to the hospital. My dad went to the hospital with my mom so my siblings and I stayed with my mom’s best friend. Me and my siblings did not go to school the next day, but we were not allowed to go see my mom because of how much pain she was in. My mom stayed in the hospital for over two weeks and once she was out, she was in a wheelchair unable to walk. She had to stay with my grandparents and did not come home for a few months because she could not walk up the stairs. My mom’s story was all over the internet and it was even on TV. The day I went back to school I got so much attention from people who had never talked to me before. Everyone would ask me how she was doing and if she was okay. This whole situation was traumatizing. This attention and situation changed the way I acted at school. This situation made me realize that I should take every opportunity that comes my way because one day it will be gone.

Sophomore year, second year of high school. I was starting to get used to the whole high school thing but still I was not comfortable being myself. I had lost all of my friends because we grew apart and found different groups to hangout with. Due to losing all of my friends, I stuck to being by myself. Since I was by myself most of the time I had a lot of time to reflect on myself. I thought by not talking at all during class or not putting myself out there was the best choice, but it is not. Junior year I was the same way, I kept myself away from all of the homecoming or spring fling events. I never participated in class. I was worried that if I said something, people would laugh and make fun of me. This is what I regret. I regret not putting myself out there in high school and being myself.

Senior year, our final year, it was all coming to an end so quickly. Senior year I realized that I should not have been hiding myself from all of the great things that come with high school. So I made more friends my senior year, I talked with people that tried to talk to me. I spoke up during class more than I did the other three years combined. I realized that public school was a place where kids can be themselves, they can speak up during class, they can make new friends, they can put themselves out there and be the best they can be. Public education showed me that it is okay to be yourself and to always be the best you can be. School was never the place where I could be myself. Looking back at my four years, I should have been myself from the beginning of freshman year and not have cared what people thought about me. My mom’s car accident helped me grow, find myself and become who I am today. Through high school I learned that being yourself is important and one day you will regret not doing the fun things in high school because you were scared of what people thought about you. Take in every moment because it will be missed once it is gone. Class of 2020, as we move on from high school, take every chance you have to be yourself. Never be afraid to be who you are, take every opportunity that is given to you and good luck in all your future endeavors.

Photo on Foter.com