Vernique Monroe: Reflections of a shy high school student

ST. PETERSBURG — I remember freshman year like it was yesterday; it most definitely was not anything special. Picture this: a small 5’1” girl in this humongous school, which seemed to be full of giants. The first day was extremely nerve racking!

I didn’t know anyone, and getting around that huge school seemed to almost be impossible. I eventually figured the school out and made some friends. My freshman year was really where I had begun the process of finding myself. I had thought about getting into clubs, but unfortunately I let my shyness get in the way of me going to any of the tryouts.

My sophomore year was just as exciting as my freshman year, which wasn’t exciting or interesting at all. I stayed to myself a lot in school. I was that girl you saw speeding in the hallways with tunnel vision trying to get to my next class. LOL! Some people would say that they wouldn’t speak to me because I always looked mad or bothered; however, I was actually quite happy on the inside.

I’ve always been this really friendly person, but my facial expression while walking to classes made me seem unapproachable (It’s really something I can’t help but I am working on it LOL!). If I could redo any year in high school, I would most definitely choose my sophomore year.

Junior year, probably my second best year in high school, is when I almost completely came out of my shell. I had two close friends and began to get acquainted with a lot more people. I still hadn’t gotten involved in anything but I did manage to make it to more of the football and basketball games. Most of the fun of these years happened outside of school.

When graduation time came for the class of 2015, I got sad. This was my original year of graduation before being held back in the fifth grade. All of my friends had graduated and went off to college. My best friend of six years also moved to Georgia this year. Although the ending of my junior year started off sad, I quickly remembered that I was about to be a senior and it was finally going to be my graduating year.

Senior year was by far the best year for me. I made more friends, got involved more and finally joined a club. The end of my senior year was the highlight of my high school experience. I had finally found myself, and it felt amazing. I was almost at the finish line and I knew that I had to finish my last year off strong. I made sure that I participated in almost every single senior event there was if I could.

The one thing that I regret is not getting involved enough. I so wish that I hadn’t let my shyness stop me from participating in more school events and joining any clubs. Now that I’ve graduated, I am relieved. I know that this is the beginning of the end and I am moving on to another chapter in life.

College for me is going to be a clean slate. I get to start over and will definitely be more involved in things pertaining to school. I know that as long as I have my mom, my best friend, my dad and God in my corner, I will do nothing but succeed!

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