Stepping out of My comfort Zone

I actually can't believe I’m halfway done with my senior year. It’s been a crazy 4 years with the pandemic. It's kind of cliché to say but it really felt like the time went by so fast. I feel like I never really had much time to sit back and reflect on my own growth.

Now that I’ve had more time to discover my own passions and reflect on my time throughout high school, I feel extremely regretful for not pursuing my passions or pushing myself more throughout high school. For example, I always thought I was too stupid to take harder classes like AP Chem, APUSH or any AP English class. I always looked at my friends taking those classes thinking they were insane. Then my sister during my sophomore year forced me to take AP Lang and AP Physics C and while those were stressful, I learned a lot from them and I was able to learn how to manage my time and stay on top of my schedule. Obviously, taking too many APs isn’t necessarily a good thing, but I realized through Junior and Senior year that I was actually capable of handling harder classes and still being successful. I was not as stupid as I thought I was and I missed out on many opportunities to advance my intellect. 

This semester specifically, made me realize that I missed out on so many great memories and experiences. This year I finally auditioned for different Orchestra groups like the Detroit Symphony Youth Orchestra or Troy High Fiddlers. From the people there to the great music we played, I loved being in those groups. I realized that instead of having only 1 year of great memories, I could have had 4 years of all these great memories. Same applies to many other activities that I have done. I wish I was more open to trying new things or pushing myself out of my comfort zone. 

Me playing in Quartet this year

Rather than sitting there and regretting many of the actions I didn’t take in the past, this semester has taught me to cherish the experiences that I have left. I realize that I have only 4 more months in this building and with my friends and I need to cherish every memory I have here. I also can look into the future to the rest of my life and know that I should always try to have new experiences especially while I’m still young. 

This semester has also taught me more about literature than any other English class in my life. This class opened my eyes to many different classics like Othello or Candide. I always wanted to try and read more and this class allowed me to do that.

I think my goal for the next semester is to read more. Not only should I be opening myself to new experiences, but I should be opening myself to other literature that I do not normally touch.