It is almost the end of senior year. Although everything was canceled, there is still so much to be grateful for over the past four years. I recently posted on Instagram to say “rip to the end of our senior year” and ngl, it took forever to find the right photos to capture my experience of high school.

I wanted to take a moment to reminisce over the great time I’ve had at Naperville North for me personally because it’s so hard to stay positive right now.

To start off, I have to admit, overall I hated high school. There was so much pressure, lots of time management issues, social drama, not to mention the struggles of personal problems, but in between all of that there were some good times. I found a lot of these good times as I went through a huge chunk of my photo album on my phone to find the 〜perfect〜 pictures to post, so Imma go back through some of them.

There were school dances, afterparties, concerts, hanging out with friends, and so much more. Some of my best experiences have been just spending time with people. I remember the first day of high school, being so nervous yet so excited. And although I may have drifted away from some friends from middle school, I made so many more and was able to connect with so many people. That is really what has made high school tolerable. The people.

Even though having a ton of math tests sucked and I really really just didn’t want to study for any of them, knowing that so many other people from my class were also up until at least 2 am struggling right alongside of me made me feel slightly better.

It was terrible, but at least we were in it together. And I really feel like that is what school was about, for me at least. Ya it sucks, but everyone else is going through the same things as me. The most comforting words to hear from another person are definitely, “I haven’t started it either.” Hearing those five simple words just brings me a joy I cannot explain. It’s a whole feel of community, knowing that my classmates are flailing right with me. It’s not just me struggling.

I mention all of that because as I was scrolling through my photos, I realized at least half of them were pictures of homework and any type of school work, either to check with other people, ask someone how to do a problem, explain a problem to someone else, or take a picture of a project so that if I somehow lost it I would have proof of the effort I had put in.

The rest of my pictures were random selfies or pictures with my friends. I think some of my favorite memories from the past four years include homecoming, spring, badminton, volleyball, Billie Eilish concert, multiple Shawn Mendes concerts, the 80s dance, hanging out downtown Naperville, the first day of senior year, church retreats, so many random sporting events and field trips, and of course any moments spent with friends.

I talk a lot about hating North, but the truth is I’m going to miss it much more than I let on. The memories made there, good and bad, will stick with me for the rest of my life. The people I’ve met have made a huge impact on me, and I will never forget that. Finally, the teachers. I have loved every single teacher I have had at North and I hope they know just how grateful I am for them. Putting up with me for the past four years is a hard thing to do. Especially this past year. They have made my high school years much better with their patience and understanding as they explain something to me in a different way for the third time. I appreciate each and every one of them.

Apparently I’ve had my last day at North as a student, considering school has been canceled for the rest of the school year, but I will definitely be visiting in the future. North has become my home and a place where I feel very comfortable, and I will never forget everything that community has done to support me.