When the topic of senior year is discussed, people always want to talk about regrets they have; things that they’d do differently. But what people do not realize is that every decision, good or bad, brought you to where you are now.

Every experience has choices and outcomes that affects the course of your life. All the opportunities that are available to you now are only available because of your choices made in the past. I would not take back any wrong decision because my experiences are what made me. The saying “you learn from your mistakes” resonates with me because it is so relevant in my life.

I remember my first day in Tupelo as an eighth grader at Tupelo Middle School. A hundred thoughts ran through my mind. Would I make friends? Would I ever be comfortable in this new city and school?

I remember my first day of 9th grade sitting in Geometry class with a thousand thoughts running through my mind. How will I survive four years of high school? Will people like me?

I remember the first day of my senior year, sitting on the trunk of my car taking pictures of the senior parade passing by me. A million thoughts were running through my mind. How would it feel to walk across that stage? Would I make it into college?

Each stage in my life had its doubts, had its challenges, had its decisions. But now as a I look back on these times; I would not change a thing. I think my advice to anyone still journeying the stormy sea that is high school is to stick to your guns, stay close to God, and be yourself. Never be apologetic for who you are, because the second you let someone determine who you are, that’s the moment you lose yourself.

When I was new in Tupelo, I wanted to fit into every crowd that seemed to accept me. I wanted to feel accepted so bad that I tried to be something I was not. I learned that if you be yourself, people will gravitate towards you. These four years of high school have been nothing but a learning experience for me. I’ve made great decisions and not so good decisions. I’ve made friends and lost friends. But most importantly, I made it and did a pretty good job of it too.