My first real experience in the halls of Reagan High School was as a nervous eighth grader, fighting my way through the flood of students leaving through the main hallway at the end of the school day as I tried to find the gym where dance team tryouts were being held. I remember feeling very small, not really knowing anyone in the room, and being intimidated by all of the people who seemed so much older than me. But the stressful four-day process was well worth it in the end, and suddenly I had 16 new friends to help me navigate my first year in high school.

My dance team became my first family at Reagan. I had constant support, love, and plenty of people to turn to any time that I needed life advice. Over my four years, my team has taught me time management, leadership skills and introduced me to some of my best friends. The highlights of my high school years have involved loud bus rides to away games, team trips up and down the coast for performances, and spending countless hours in the dance room, regardless of whether or not the air conditioning worked.

Dance team was a blessing in that it immediately gave me an outlet to release my stress from school and gave me friends that I could go to right off the bat in a new school. I have loved being on Raiderettes for the past four years, and it’s a team that I will miss with my whole heart next year.

For the majority of my school years before high school, my friend group mostly was made up of my dance friends, because of our similar schedules and interests. But as a sophomore, I decided to join a group that would lead me to an entirely new group of friends.

After a year of journalism freshman year, I joined the Reagan newspaper, along with two of my friends.  I’ve always enjoyed writing, and thought that this would be a good way to continue my interest, and to see if I would be interested in a career in journalism later in my life. What I got from joining the newspaper was more than writing tips and another slot filled on my college applications.

Frequently filled with loud voices and laughter, and more often than not with someone cooking something, the newspaper room is where I’ve spent many of my days at Reagan over the last three years. I’ve been able to meet a wonderful and eccentric group of people that I’ve come to know and love very much, and share my life with.

I’m grateful for newspaper for making me go out of my comfort zone. I had to learn how to interview and question people without feeling uncomfortable, even if I had never met them. I learned how to go and demand answers and photos when teachers would not respond. It taught me to be more confident in my writing, and I’ve loved getting the opportunity to write about and learn about students and events around me that I never would have been able to experience otherwise.

I will miss our closed door discussions, our Nom days (both official and those called last minute over a group text), the drawings that are slowly covering the walls, and the joke Christmas gifts that seem to get more elaborate and entertaining each year.

As my time at Reagan comes to a close, I’m realizing just how true it is that senior year flies by. It sounds cheesy, and it’s said every year, but it really does feel like it was just yesterday that I was an overwhelmed fourteen-year-old getting lost in what I thought was a very big and confusing school. My four years here, while at times very stressful, have taught me how to lead, how to manage my time, and have introduced me to my best friends.

While looking forward into next year is a bit daunting, I am so excited to be attending UNC Chapel Hill in the fall. I am so thankful to Reagan High School for helping me get into my dream school, and preparing me to be as ready as I can be for college. My teachers and counselors have been invaluable to me throughout my senior year, and I am grateful for their continuous support as I leave high school.

I will miss my friends that I am leaving behind here at Reagan, and those that are graduating, and going on to different colleges. But I know that I will be back to visit frequently, when there is a dance concert or there is a party in newspaper, and I can’t wait to see what the future has to hold.