High school has been a rollercoaster full of memories and mistakes.

When I started high school, I was this girl who was firm on what I believed and nothing anyone said could change that, but then the pressure got the best of me, and I started becoming someone I never thought I’d become.

With the pressure of impressing the upperclassmen firmly upon me, my decisions were based on what they considered “cool.”

I thought that I would have to give in to all of these pressures every year. I never knew how to say no.

I wanted popular friends, so I could have the label “popular.” I wanted to to fit in and do the things they did, so they wouldn’t think I was the “good girl”.

These labels were important to me because I just simply wanted to “fit in”.

But as I got older and more mature, I realized that those labels don’t define who I am.

I am much more than a label. I know that I can be better than those pressures I fell into. I know that I am a better person today because I finally learned how to say no.

I have promised myself that my senior year would not be like my other three high school years.

My faith in God is much stronger. I am a better version of myself.

Yes, those decisions have made me who I am today, and I wouldn’t trade that for anything but looking back there are some things I wish I could change.

My senior year is going to be the most remarkable and eye-opening year. I know that I am going to find my true friends, and those who have always stuck by me. I’ve made new friends and lost old ones. I know that’s God’s plan for me. I couldn’t do half of this without my trust in Him.

High school has made me into a better person, and I know my friends have seen a better me since freshman year.