It is the end time. Today marks the 9th-to-last school day I’ll ever have as a student at Troy High School. Tomorrow is the Troy Tech Fair, supposedly the place where we’ll celebrate the culmination of our high school careers, but in reality will merely be another milestone on our march to college. The class of 2004 is about to move on to bigger and better things. What have I learned as a student of Troy High School? If you’re reading this, and are a prospective or current Troy student, maybe I can tell you something as a graduating senior.
1) Enjoy your time. Homework can be done any time, but dances or other special events happen only once. If there’s an opportunity to go somewhere with friends or some special club event to sign up for (that’s not monetarily prohibitive, or you just have to do some schoolwork) DO IT, don’t be a damn nerd. I could mention all my regrets in this regard, but here’s the short list: Didn’t go to any dances after the MORP of my freshman year all the way to homecoming of my senior year. Didn’t do much in the realm of dating: would’ve been nice to have at least one romantic relationship. Never put in the work to join Science Olympiad or Oracle or do music or join an athletic team, and never truly tried my best at the activities I did do (although I was just starting things and going easy, so college oughta be better).
Summary: Don’t make yourself a social exile! Surround yourself with cool people.
2) Don’t slack. Although the rewards of slacking are immense in the immediate sense, I’ve seen the results of things I put lots of effort into time and time again. Examples: College apps, scholarship apps, being friendly to teachers and enthusiastic in class, a minimum of stress. Did -I- think I could get into YALE of all schools, land a near-full scholarship to Vanderbilt, and be near the top of my class when I was a puny freshman? Nuh uh, and you better believe it, sister. I still can’t quite believe my luck, but hey. It was a lot of freaking hard work that seemed pointless at the time that added up to give me a set of interests, goals, and aspirations. I was never the type of kid who knew what he wanted to be for sure for sure since I was 6 and never deviated. I dabbled in what I liked, and explored that, and it has served me well (for the most part, although of course tears and sadness will follow one everywhere).
3) Make your friendships worthwhile. It’s good to know people on a day-to-day basis, but the real test of any relationship is what occurs outside the school. With that in mind, I’d like to give shout outs to Ally, Banack, Mel, Fullmer, Blackburn, Li, Eric, James, Tim, Roger, Brenton, Nancy, Bonnie, Rachelle, Clarissa, Sam, Angie, Travis, Mi-chelle, Ben, Nick, Caroline, Joy, Stewey, Delwin, Olivia, Tony, Makal, Max, Pam, Anshul, Kuntjoro, Yanger, Narmisha, Sunny, Krystle, Ann, Alex and so many more that I can’t even name them all!
We, the graduates of the Troy High School class of 2004, salute you. This entry will be appended later with my thoughts on graduation itself and this wonderful class that I will graduate with, along with anything else I think of between now and then.