Freshman Year
Oh yes, the year I entered high school with my best friends Chanel Anderson and Kara Stewart. Still having every desire to be popular, look pretty all the time, have a boy like me…. The year I was grounded all the time, had to turn in my phone at night, was proud of my 3.6 GPA, was about to quit violin, and made some of the biggest mistakes and causing the biggest regrets of my High School life. I mean it’s no wonder I’ve used all sorts of defense mechanisms to forget this year. But still, I know I couldn’t have become the better person I am now without all those things. Plus, it was still fun. I was in orchestra, had a lot of friends, had my first experiences with state music events like Solo and Ensemble, and got familiar with all of Cedar High’s traditions.
Sophomore Year
I got on top of things. I was passionate about music again, was in the pit orchestra for Big River, received my first 4.0, spent weekends four-wheeling (until the big accident), became friends with the amazing and beautiful Kelsee Jackson, was in German club, got my driver’s license, went to my first dances with dates, saw Wicked in Salt Lake, and again had wonderful, wonderful friends. I think this was my favorite year after being a Senior. It was relatively stress-free and I met a lot of new people. Oh, I just remembered, this was my first full year of school with braces. Yummy!
Junior Year
Definitely my hardest, academic year. Actually just overall my hardest year, but fun and definitely not my least favorite. I was in AP English, German 2, and Chemistry 1010 and 1050. I made up for all my slacking from Freshman Year and finally made it into Honor Society. We were all given more freedom. I could drive my friends down to St. George for a day to simply hang out, shop, ice skate, find adventures at Costco, go to the lake, and jam out to music. I got to play a violin solo with the Orchestra of Southern Utah. I made plans for Senior year by running for a Student Body Office and auditioning for Madrigals. I became especially good friends with Kaitlyn Friese. I also lost a best friend. This was the year my testimony of the LDS church grew the most. I had to overcome a lot of trials and really stand on my own in making decisions that involved being a righteous member of the church. I was and am lucky enough to have so many friends to talk about the gospel with, especially with my sister, Caitlin, being gone on her mission. They helped me so much. I almost forgot to mention my mom. Wow, my mom is amazing. She became my best friend. She became the person I wanted to confide in the most. What a wonderful mother I have.
Senior Year
I’m sorry this post is so much longer than I intended it to be, but I’m almost done I promise. Wow. This year has been great. My mom said to me the other day, “I haven’t had a child that was involved in as many things as you.” I suppose she was right. I had the opportunity to play a lead role in our school musical, The Wizard of Oz, I was in Student Government, Orchestra, Madrigals, German Club, Honor Society, Athena, and named Cedar High’s Music Sterling Scholar (which I consider to be my greatest accomplishment). I took on teaching 4 students, whom I love. Speaking of love, I also fell in love, it’s a crazy, wonderful thing. I was also Seminary Class President and Laurel Class President for half the year. I got to be in Utah’s All-State Orchestra. I made it into BYU, which was a blessing and honestly a miracle. I’ve loved meeting so many new people and being involved in so many things. High School has been good to me. I’m going to miss it but I look forward to moving on to the next stage of my life.