Reflecting on Junior Year

Today was another milestone in my 16 years, I have completed my junior year of high school. In the end, it all ended up turning out alright, my GPA is a very happy 4.14 for the year but probably only because I had to work my ass off for the last quarter of school, jeez I wish i could recover all those lost hours of sleep. But yeah, it was fun, as I mentioned before, me and a group of friends dressed up mafia style today and freaked out a few people in the halls and the occasional teacher which was fun to day the least, we ended up going to one of my friend's houses and watching the Godfather 9first time for me), playing Halo 3 (which i sucked horribly at) and eating pizza and cake for lunch (which, thankfully, I'll always be good at).

So what have I learned this year? well apart from all the stuff in the land of academia, i also learned some important tips and lessons during my tenure as a 11th grader. First, be nice to the teacher, seriously, i lost count of how many times i have been able to get away with some things or have been able to away opinions because a teacher likes me (i'm hardly a teachers pet either). Another lesson, get sleep, and plenty of it. I did crew this year, and being a novice this time 'round I guess I didn't sort out my time properly since for pretty much half of 2nd and all of 3rd quarter, i ended up going to bed at about 2AM (note, I get up at 6:20), so that probably hurt me in the end. Third, You can never underestimate the value of friends, even if they can be bitchy and nagging at times, if you can get through those periods, you can trust in the fact that you will be on good terms for as long as you and your friends live. For me at least, I am not one to be easily become close friends with, I need time to decide if I can trust someone so my inner circle is made up only of people who I know I can trust with even the most unsavoury of secrets. That's why i appreciate my best friend who shall not be named, but let's just say she was the first person I came out to on, and, i can't believe I actually remember the exact date, on July 22, 2008. Remember now that this was a time I was so afraid and absolutely terrified about this that actually telling someone would be as big of a step for me as the discovery of penicillin was for the field of medicine. And a fourth and final lesson, remember to have fun, school is stressful enough and there is no need for your life to be filled with long nights and constant work without some respite and relaxation. take some time to do something you enjoy, have a cup of tea, listen to some music, or just take a nap, seriously, it does wonders. My own mission statement for life in a nutshell is "work hard, play harder", you only have one life to live, make the most of it.

Okay, now that all that jazz is over, it's time for me to start enjoying summer before the flood of summer AP assignments (remind me why I'm taking 4 classes and taking 5 tests next year?) and never ending college visits takes root. As the one year anniversary of my initial coming out is rolling around, I was thinking of coming out to all my friends this summer, not just because it's one year, but just because I'm much more comfortable with myself now and I think it would benefit both me and my friends and people I know to be able to know the true me and not just a masked version. I'll see what happens, hopefully I can get a boyfriend next year or at least have a date for homecoming, but maybe I'm looking a little too far into the future haha.