Have you ever wanted to just turn back the clock? Done something you shouldn’t have and wish you didn’t? Made some friends you regret meeting? Or maybe you wish you tried harder to achieve something that seemed so miniscule then but massive now. I have been in all of these places and can relate to anyone else who has been as well.

Being a high school student is tough and includes a million moments just like these. People say “you should live life with no regrets” but how is that possible? How can one live knowing they have so much potential and achieve so many things but settled for less? Don’t get me wrong, there were a lot of pleasant moments in my high school experience. However I feel as though I didn’t get the most of it. I could have been on the headmasters list, joined the national honors society and even had a fighting chance of getting into more competitive colleges.
At this point I almost feel defeated, almost. I’m not as pessimistic as I sound. The war has not been won yet and the next few months are my last chance to show my dream school why I’m a good candidate for them. I am prepared to work harder than ever to get into my dream college and continue to work hard through college. I’ll set my goals high and even if I fail to achieve them, I’ll land in a better place and I would have had I given up.

Graduation season has made me think a lot about my senior year and my life after high school. I watched some of my friends cross the threshold into the next stage of their life, now I’m first in line to do the same. My advice to rising freshmen, give the next four years of your life everything you’ve got. There is no do-over button, no time machine that can take you back to right your wrongs. Even if it doesn’t seem important to try hard now, later it will. Every miserable night you stay up studying and every torturous second you spend struggling to tackle a concept will pay off once you receive your acceptance letters at the end of the road. Current high school students who feel as though they did not do as well as they could have, you still have time. You can still put your best foot forward but you have to give it your all. The more you slack off the harder you’ll have to work to correct your mistakes. Lastly, high school students who are doing well should keep up the good work. Continue to do your very best until the day you walk across the stage with your diploma and beyond. You will be very happy at the end of your high school career.

People say “live your life with no regrets” because the past is the past and it can’t be altered. The only thing you can do is learn from the mistakes you made and grow as a person. The only way to fix a mistake is to learn from it and become a better person as a result of it. This is what I intend to do with my own past and urge those who have things they regret to do the same. It is better to have tried and failed than to never have tried at all.