the future- catherine van tatenhove

As I head into the last 4 days of my Junior year of high school I'm overwhelmed with a feeling of success. However, it isn't the success I would have thought I would be celebrating when I began this year. I didn't maintain the perfect 4.0. I didn't get a perfect ACT score. I didn’t get fives on all my AP tests. I should have spent more time studying and less time up at 4 am watching documentaries and reading books. I should have done a lot of things. But, I didn't, and I still succeeded. I succeeded because I realized that a number on the top of my transcript doesn't define my future. I found where I excelled and started to focus on that without dwelling on the all too present fact that I may never be a star on Mrs. Dewees's wall. Because the fact is this year has been a success because I learned to surround myself with people who believe and have the same values and goals as me. People who make you believe in something even if you aren’t sure what that is. I learned that high school drama may be apart of every angsty teens life, but the only thing you can control is how your respond to it. It isn’t profound. It’s actually pretty cliche. But, thank you junior year. Thank you for bringing me new friendships and unbeatable memories. Now, if only I can figure out a mentoring project, and/or how to speak French for my three week trip to France......