High School Hunting Trip

In a way, middle school is like a hunting trip. Going into it, you know what your goal is---graduating, or killing that huge mule deer. But you can’t do it without your gear. Your textbook, which is your bow, your pencils, which are your arrows, and finally, your hunting partner. Your hunting partner is there to enjoy the experience with you, and to help pack out the prize. In school, this would be that one good friend, or in some cases several friends that help you through it, and achieve the goal of graduation with you.
This was my first year of public school, and I had some great hunting partners. All of the 6th, 7th, and 8th grade girls, Taylor, Paige, LaKia, Peyton, Scout, Kamber, and Kiera, just to name a few, were unbelievably kind to me this year. I am blessed to have these awesome girls as friends. They made my first year of public school amazing and fun.
This was also my first time playing basketball, and each one of these girls were an amazing encouragement. I never really felt like I was doing very good at it, but my friends would always tell me that I was doing okay for my first year, and that I was improving. I want to give each of them a huge thank you for their encouragement and friendship.
I also want to thank my coaches. Mr. Block, you were an awesome coach for my
first year of basketball. You pushed me to try my hardest and do my best. I never would have been able to play basketball without your help. Thank You so much.
Mrs. Erin, I can’t thank you enough for all of the time, energy, and work you put into coaching our volleyball team. You gave me the opportunity of a lifetime. I love volleyball, and now know how to play it thanks to you. This was Deer Park’s first year of volleyball, and you coached us up to 4th place in the tournament.
Now to thank my teachers. I already thanked Mr. Block for coaching basketball, but he was also my math teacher. Mr. Block, thank you for teaching me math in a whole new way, and for giving me the chance to go to Math Counts.
Secondly, I want to give a huge thank you to Miss Smith. Miss Smith, you were so much fun. I absolutely loved having you as a teacher. You made classes more than bearable, you made them fun. You would crack the best jokes and make the class roar up in laughter. And thank you for all of your help. You would help me in any subject I needed help in. Thanks so much.
Finally, I want to thank my Language Arts and Reading teacher, the one, the only, the Mr. Rague. Thank you Mr. Rague for learning me how to grammar and teached me how to write in a way I never had before. Thanks to all you have taught me, I have become a better writer. I will never forget how you, or any of my teachers, helped me build my way up to where I am now: heading into the strange world of 8th grade. I will never, ever forget all I have learned this year.
Philippians 4:13 says, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”.
This Bible verse was a very helpful reminder this year that even when I am struggling in school and think I’ll never make it through the year, I just need to remember that I’m not doing this on my own. I have Jesus helping me every step of the way. I can do anything with His help. I want to give one last thank you, this time to my parents, for helping me remember this as I made my way through 7th grade. I love you two so very much. You are the best parents anyone could ever imagine. You two raised me and my brothers in the best way, and I will never forget all that you have taught me throughout my
life.
Now before I end I just want to say one thing to my classmates: We only have one year left of middle school and Deer Park. I know some of you can’t wait for this to be over, but if you wish your time away, you will regret it later. So let’s just have fun next year and enjoy our last year of middle school. Let’s finish our hunting trip with smiles and fun memories. ~Gracie Mee