In my four years at school, I can proudly say I enjoyed it more than I thought.

Coming into high school, people were like, “The building sucks, and going to Churchill would be much better,” but I didn’t believe them. The people at school were everything I expected: spirited, caring, compassionate and so much more. Even after the countless events like the water main break, shooting, bomb threats and more, this school will always have a special place in my heart no matter if it moves or whatever happens to it. It is kind of sad the building is being moved, but what makes this school special is the community and the people which I am sure will carry over to the Crown location.

My journey through Common Sense has been incredible. Starting out my junior year, when my friends Blake Graham and Cyrus Kaz told me to sign up as they would be taking the class, I immediately said yes. J1 was one of my favorite classes in my high school career. With Jack Weinstein, Cameron and Blake all being in the class, it made the experience unforgettable. The memories I have made in J1 and newspaper class have been incredible, and I will never forget them. Writing for Common Sense has given me a whole new perspective on journalism, and writing in general. I can actually appreciate the work journalists do and I can cherish the freedom we have in our country even more.

Overall, my high school experience would be rated a 9.5/10. I made so many friends over the past four years and each day at school gave me something to look forward to. The teachers at school have always been there for me and answered my questions without hesitation. The things this school has allowed me to do are amazing. The opportunities, like the college fair, baseball and more, gave me an amazing chance to get into a tremendous number of colleges. I would say this school perfectly guided me towards the University of South Carolina and I hope have prepared me enough to achieve success in my future endeavors.

I would like to take some time to talk about baseball. First, thank you, Ms. Starr, for always supporting the team and coming to our games. I always knew I never wanted to play college baseball, but I still wanted to be an amazing player and help the school win games. I definitely lacked some effort after deciding I didn’t want to become a college player, and my stats showed the lack of effort I had made. I would sometimes dread practice when my friends were at home hanging out, but I always loved baseball. After this season ended, I realized that I took baseball for granted, and the team is really like a family. Out of 12 seniors, 10 cried and I was one of them and it made me realize how important taking a step back is and cherishing your time as even though it is a cliche saying, time does really fly.