Some Way To Get By

Wow! Here we are, getting ready to graduate. Anxiously awaiting being able to say goodbye to the place standing between us and freedom as adults. The day we never thought could come soon enough. Here we stand now, the Class of 2023 from Oak Hill High School. I think we can all agree that none of this supposed “best years of our lives” were easy. COVID screwed up the second part of our Freshman year, the entirety of our Sophomore year, left us being stuck wearing masks most of our Junior year, but thankfully didn’t hurt our Senior year too much, we had water damage from bursting pipes for that. But we still made it! Somehow..

I know that myself, back in Freshman year never would have thought I’d be here, who I am today, saying the things I’m about to say. That little kid who used to walk the halls of this school singing the lyrics to “Blood” by My Chemical Romance like it was nobody’s business, never would have dared to even make a speech like this. Being a socially awkward weirdo with no friends or social skills to save herself, preferring to be alone as opposed to talking to people, trying to just live life as best as she could without having the typical high school experience of the average emo / goth kid. Just let her have her headphones on and she’ll be fine, take them away and she’ll go crazy because music is her life.

Fast-forward to today, and music still is my life. I’m still a little crazy, hyper, weird, and fit into the emo / goth stereotype (I mean, come on. I wear mostly all black clothes, listen to “emo” style music, wear black nail polish, do gothic makeup occasionally, have 14 piercings and want more, like to stay alone in the dark of my room over going out in the sun and socializing like a “normal person”, as my dad would say, etc… you see my point here.) However, I’ve learned more lessons than I ever thought I would. I learned that procrastinating on Membean is not the option, however everyone does it. I learned that I listen to music at way too loud of a volume. But in my defense, I like to drown out the sounds of people around me to truly focus and do my work effectively, otherwise I get annoyed more than normal, plus music is more interesting that my peers drama about stuff I don’t care to listen to. I also learned that good work requires hard work. And I learned that I needed to make friends, which I did, somehow, shout-out to Hailey Lagasse for being there whenever I needed her, as well as my other friends. However none of them quite were there for me the way Hailey was. I don’t know how she or any of my friends put up with me, but I won’t complain. I also learned other things, but you all get the point.

My journey through school includes, but is not limited to, being a singer in rock band throughout these 4 years, winning the Science Academic Award in my Sophomore and Junior year, doing Cross Country since 6th grade in middle school, with the exception of Sophomore and Senior year. Also, being an actor in drama with Ms. Rioux since middle school, and with another teacher, Ms. Perry since elementary school. I also participated in concert band in Middle School as well, playing clarinet, even though I wasn’t great at it. And with the fact I was raised in a church, I also participated in every performance I could there, loving being on stage. I also was a member of the Theatre class taught by Mrs. Barker in the fall semester of Senior year. I also have done Art every single year I’ve been here, being in Advanced Studio Art for the last semester of my Junior year, and second semester of Senior year. So, as you all can see, I’ve been in the visual and performing arts for a long time, and spent probably about half of my life on the stage. Maybe not half, but a good part of my life has been on stage, performing, being blinded by the bright lights, and performing my heart out.

Those are all things that have formed me into the person I am today, and the performing arts examples are all things that have solidified to me that I want to become a performer. As well as going to concerts of my favorite bands, seeing how much I enjoyed it, and how music has helped me, giving me hope that maybe someday I can be on that stage, and help people how my favorite bands have helped me (examples: Black Veil Brides, Three Days Grace, New Years Day, BTS, Shinedown, Motionless In White, Ice Nine Kills, Citizen Soldier, BlackPink, Enhypen, Kard, etc…) all for different reasons, and in different ways.

After this, however, I do plan on attending college at Southern Maine Community College down in Portland with Hailey in the fall and majoring in Music there to hopefully someday achieve my dream of becoming a singer.

I think all of us can agree that we’ve learned A LOT in our 4 years at this school. All of us had different coping mechanisms to get through this place, be it music, friends, social media, significant others, etc… Or sometimes it’s just procrastinating a whole semester’s worth of work to the last week of said semester, and then swearing you’ll never do it again, even though you know that’s a lie. Regardless, we all have some way to get by in high school and life in general. And it differs from person to person.

I’m no stranger to pain and being hurt by those around me, I’m no stranger to struggling, I’m no stranger to depression, feeling drained, anxiety, post-traumatic stresses, etc… This isn’t a sob story, so I’m going to just get to the point here. We all have our own struggles, and still things that help us to get through the everyday struggles of this life that have lead us up to this point. I know that I could not have made it through without my non-biological sister Hailey, the few other friends I have, my boyfriend (even though we’ve only been together for 5 months as I’m writing this, and the fact that we’re long distance), certain members of my family, my teachers, and music all there to guide me through the many struggles of existing. So thank you to all of them for being there and helping me stay sane. I know I couldn’t have made it by without any of them.

Going off the subject of me and going to something relevant to our High School life, COVID. It definitely did not make life, much less High School, easy for us. We had to wear masks, weren’t able to see our friends because of social distancing and close contact issues and quarantining so as to not spread the virus or catch it, virtual schooling impacting our education hugely, having the pass-fail system, vaccines and the drama with them, etc… We can all agree it sucked, and we’re glad it’s behind us now.

Through it all, despite the struggle, everyone had something to assist them in getting by, and overcoming the hurdles life seemed to like throwing at us. The seemingly endless amounts of work, the god-awful 1600 minutes of Membean, the drama of high school, family drama, everything. We overcame it, and this is our moment. We may think we made it by ourselves, but sometimes things to help us get by aren’t as obvious as friends, family, a significant other, food, music, or other coping mechanisms one may have.

Now you all must be tired after having to listen to me talk for almost 5 or so minutes, so I’ll wrap this up. Thank you for listening to my speech. I hope you all continue to find good things to help you get by, and find nothing but greatness in the life you have ahead of you all. I am MSmith23. Goodbye, fellow students who I have spent the last years of mandatory schooling with. And good luck!

Featured Image: “Graduation Cap Cupcake” by clevercupcakes is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.