Valerie+P.

[[http://animoto.com/play/4KOmMdhkAae1KT2vO4J7LQ?autostart=true|http://animoto.com/play/4KOmMdhkAae1KT2vO4J7LQ?autostart=true

]]It all started when I moved to Cary, NC from NY, the evening before the first day of high school. I cried the entire night at the prospect of what the next day would hold. I knew no one in the school except for a girl I’d met at freshmen orientation. However, it seemed that luck was on my side. The one girl I’d met, Chloe Barrington-Ham, happened to be in three of my classes first semester. From building on that friendship, I managed to find some comfort in a school full of unfamiliar faces. The more freshmen year went on, the more I found myself surrounded by a close-knit of friends; people who weren’t afraid of being different. Their company inspired me to be stronger in character and personality. Sophomore year was the year where my social life sky rocketed. Finally, I had a group to hang out with outside school. In NY, my parents were over-protective and never allowed me to go out. Here, however, they took note of the major difference in the safety of Cary. I met one of my best friends, Luci Duan, this year. We became inseperatable, always holding hands in the hall and acting crazy. She was one person who never judged me, despite my numerous flaws. Key Club helped me gain another network of friends, while also providing me with my first leadership position. I still remember my slogan, “VP for VP.” This was also the year I first fell in love. From what I recall, sophomore year was the happiest year of my life. Junior year was when things became to fall apart. Luci went to NCSSM, my boyfriend went to GT, and 6 AP Classes took a major toll in my life. It became almost impossible to balance school, a faulty long-distance relationship, a social life, key club, and my sanity. Life changed for me in ways that couldn’t be all seen physically. I became more reserved and insecure; afraid to open up, and overall difficult for people to understand. Although I still had my group of friends, I felt as I was out of my safety zone. It became hard for me to even look at someone straight in the eye. I felt like I lost myself in my own emotional stress. However, during all this, I was able to call another person my best friend, Neha P. After a difficult year, she helped me throughout the summer. Getting me out of the house, when all I wanted to do was disappear. Taking classes at NC State with her was another highlight of that summer. During that, I became to open up to another person, someone I once thought was only capable of talking about calculus and school. Being at NCSU also made me realize that I love it, and want to attend there for college. It also made me realize I don’t want to do anything in the future involving microeconomics. Senior year unfortunately was no better, if not worse, than junior year. After losing several close friendships, I’ve come to the conclusion that things have happened to ease my transition from high school to college. Overall, high school, was filled with mistakes, failures, and successes (whether as a friend or student)I remember Mr. Clayton called on me to answer a question freshmen orientation, after answering, he told me, you’ll succeed here in Green Hope.” In a way, I suppose I have. I’ve succeeded in growing as a person, in strength and endurance. All I can say now is, I’m ready to graduate!