What I Learned in High School

Although I am only 18, many events in my life have changed the outlook I have on life for better or worse. I would have to say one experience I had in my high school years took both outlooks and tied them into one. Freshmen year I attended a small catholic school in Florida. Not being too excited about attending, my parents insisted because it was closer than the other local Catholic High School. Being extremely unhappy all year I think I learned my first invaluable trait: If you don’t look on the bright side of things no one else is going to for you. Although unhappy, I was fortunate enough to attend private school. Giving into my pleas, my parents transferred me to the other local catholic school sophomore year. Even though the transfer was what I wanted, the change was hard. From school to school, the caliber of person was a world of difference. I had to learn to relate to a whole new group of people. The best thing that came out of my sophomore year was joining my schools speech and debate team. Speech and debate has changed my life in so many ways. It has crafted me to be a more outgoing person, a more informed citizen and a better friend. Participating in this activity has forced me to leave my comfort zone more than once, and see what others are like from all over. I would have to say sophomore year I learned the 2nd trait I value: adaptability. Between school, speech and debate and trying to make friends I had to conform to a completely new way of life only my second year into high school. Unfortunately, the summer of my junior year my parents decided to move us to Georgia. Devastated, I now attended my third school in three years. Feeling alone and not knowing what to do, I once again turned to my favorite thing, Speech and debate. My school in Florida had a very large Speech and debate team, and my new school in Georgia had a very small team. Reluctantly, I made the best of the situation at hand. I quickly proved I had knowledge on the activity and was