Co Editor-in-Chief Hannah Esker

With freshman year of college fast approaching, I am reminded of my first year at South. Coming from a private grade school, I didn’t know anyone, and all my friends were attending other high schools. I remember arriving for summer orientation, seeing the Commons full of my new classmates, and wondering how I would be able to fit in.

Four years later, my departure from South is bittersweet. I’m excited to start the next chapter of my life yet sad to leave all the amazing people I have met. Because of cross country I connected with my very best friends. Because of  AP classes I have learned from teachers who are now mentors and discovered my career path. Because of journalism I learned how to better express myself and represent others. My experience at South, every class I took and person I met, has helped shaped me into the person I am today.

However, my high school journey hasn’t always been easy. In November of my sophomore year, Michaela, a girl from my grade school, made the heartbreaking decision to take her own life. In the months following her death I experienced some major denial. I didn’t know who to talk to or where to turn. My new group of friends didn’t understand, and my old friends had grown distant. Emotionally, I felt empty, but in the middle of all this darkness my true friends emerged, the friends who listen for hours to my fears and dreams, the friends who support me even when they don’t agree with me, the friends who would drop everything if I needed help. Because of them I made it through the darkness. Because of them I was able to grieve and move on. Because of them I learned what real love is.

So my advice to everyone is this: Find the people who are your true friends. Find the people who fill your life with joy. Surround yourself with happiness so that when you look back at the end of high school, at the end of college, at the end whatever milestones you reach, you can say with confidence that you have no regrets.

Hannah is attending the 6-year Medical Program at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.