This is it.

Our last blog of the semester is here, and I’m not exactly sure how to feel about it. On one hand, we’re done! High school is almost officially over, and we’re onto the next step in our lives, which for many of us is college. But on the contrary, I still feel slightly regretful that school is ending. There’s so much that I want to last just a bit longer but our time is coming to an end. It’s really been a fun year and I’ve enjoyed everything we’ve done in this class.

This semester, I wrote blogs about a wider range of topics than last semester, which was one of the goals that I had set for myself. Through this process, I discovered that I tend to write more intuitively than logically, if that makes any sense. Rather than planning out what I want to write, instead I would start writing first and let the words take shape on the page. Then, once I had an idea going, I would then start to build the structure of my writing.

However, I actually didn’t really like a lot of the blogs that I wrote this semester. I know that I was the one who chose the topics, but I’m kind of dissatisfied with the way I approached them. I feel like I could’ve been a bit more personal with my blog topics, maybe focusing on how the topics have influenced my life more. That being said, the blog that I enjoyed the most was probably actually the difficulty essay. Writing an essay about how difficult something is was a pretty novel experience, and I have to say that I enjoyed it quite a bit. I was able to examine Dickinson’s poetry more closely, scrutinizing all the details that she included. The fact that it was challenging actually made me more interested in this blog.

I think I read my Voices novel at a very interesting point in my life. Previously in Spanish, we studied military dictators in Latin America, including Augusto Pinochet in Chile. When I discovered The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende on the list of novels, I immediately had a feeling that this was the book I wanted to read. The added context of Chile’s real history really complemented my understanding of the novel and its contents, making Allende’s message so much more powerful. I would definitely recommend this book to any senior next year who is interested in either Latin America or magic realism.

While doing the Voices project, I learned a lot more about Chile in particular, both its history and its cultural norms. I learned about how women have played a role in creating both social and political change. During my research, I was quite surprised to learn that women played an especially important role in toppling the Pinochet regime with their political activism strategies.

Throughout my four years at North, I’ve certainly learned a lot about myself, the most important of which is that I still have a lot to learn and improve on. In college, I want to continue learning, building connections with others, and improving all these skills that are essential to life. I’ve also learned how supportive the community, both in terms of my close friends and larger local community, is. No matter what, you’ll find people who are willing to help and support you.

I feel like advice for future seniors is probably going to be different for each individual. If I had to choose something that applies to everybody, I would say to enjoy this time of your life. It’s your last year of high school, and after this your life is going to change drastically. Before that happens, I’d say that you should make as many meaningful, good memories as you can. No matter whether it’s in school, extracurriculars, or hanging out with your friends, I’d suggest maximizing your time spent well. This might look different for each person, but I think it’s important to do the things that you love and also explore new things while you’re still in high school.