2013 has changed me. I will never be the same and that’s is okay because I learned how strong I am. My top five life changing moments in 2013 are ones I hope I never forget.

1. Not being with my best friends

I used to think that as long as I had my two best friends life was good. Over the summer I had the experience of life truly without them. Since all of us go to separate high schools it makes it hard to hang out a lot. Normally we hang out a ton over summer to make up for it. But this summer was a lot different my best friends were too busy for me all of my friends seemed to be for that matter. I was bored out of my mind and I wanted school to start again not because I liked it but because it let me see my friends. I learned that you can’t just wait around for other people to have fun you have to make your own experiences.

2. Getting my first C

I have always been a straight A student or having like one B+ that was like .4 away from being an A and I was proud of that. I put all of my pride in being smart. But recently I had a class that has gotten the better of me. Pre-Calculus it made me feel stupid and worthless because I struggled in that class. I couldn’t seem to pass the tests. There were people who were younger than me by two years getting A’s and it made me angry. I couldn’t seem to get past the fact that I was failing for most of the semester. After a while I gave up while I was worrying about the future I realized that yes grades matter but they don’t define your life. You define your life and grades matter as a stepping in the staircase in life but if you miss the step you can always get back up and try again.

3. Finding out I have asthma

I have always had problems breathing. I couldn’t breath around smoke, highly pollinated areas or while I exercised. I always thought it was my heart but then after taking a breathing test I learned I had asthma. It was shocking at first but then after I took my inhaler I realized how much air I had been missing. It felt great and I haven’t had trouble outside or exercising. I realized how much fun running can be if you can breath.

4. Visiting my first college

Ever since I was little I was always focused on college and my future. I looked at various colleges and I thought Stanford was the college for me. That was until I visited it and I realized it wasn’t quite for me. I walked around the large grounds. Stanford was beautiful but it was too much for me. I felt like it was too glamorous and I would never fit in there. I realized that yes a college may look good on paper but you’ll never know if you would like it there unless you visit.

5. Starting junior year– Freshman year was super easy. Sophomore year a little hard. I just had a problem managing my time. But this year I learned how hard school can get get. I devoted all my time to my studies and was still failing a couple classes. It showed me how far I could stretch myself. I had to drop my hardest class. But I realized that even though you do all these hard things so it looks good. You need to do what you love the most. Being Sports Editor helped me get close to what I love my passion for basketball. Being in honors language arts and journalism gave me another thing I love, writing. Starting this year showed me how life is passing quickly and we need it which means there are times we need to stop stretching ourselves to wits end and do the things we love too.

by ARIELLA APPLEBY