“And yes I will be present on the first day of school, and graduation,” a line from an Outkast song that I proudly sung my freshman year. Little did I know that the next four years would have gone by this fast and that my graduation walk would be so close.

It’s safe to say that after four years of high school, I met people who impacted my life in many ways. But only a small number of them truly knew the real me.

Coming from middle school, I met a couple of people who could relate to me, but it wasn’t until high school when I made my official group of friends who I could go to for anything. Before I knew it, I became really close with a handful of girls.

In the halls of Palmetto I met the sucker for love who kept the same guy all through high school, the one who just believed in having fun, the one who never said what she honestly felt, and the one who had the worst timing. Basically every personality was covered; there was just enough room for me, the one who believed in finding someone perfect eventually.

At times when I couldn’t handle school or things weren’t going as planned, one if not all of my friends were there to help me through my obstacles. A best friend of the opposite sex came in handy throughout my time here. He gave me the inside scoop on what guys think, and kept me company during an action movie or a basketball game.

High school throws many dramatic situations at you, and looking back at them, I realize that some situations were unnecessary. I realize that the only problems that I should have focused on were my grades, my family and maintaining my honest friendships.

Some things are inevitable, like other people’s perception of you and even relationships. I wasn’t one to escape either of those problems and even though I learned to live with the fact that some people weren’t going to like me, I seemed to have somewhat of a tough time dealing with the relationship situations.

Throughout my four years I experienced everything from a long-term relationship to random dating and a complicated friendship. Even though you would like to think that everything lasts forever, in high school it is highly unlikely to happen. There are times when relationships end up with heartbreaks, but risks are worth taking because we’re young and we should be able to overcome these kinds of problems.

I consider myself fortunate to have been given the opportunity to be in newspaper because when my friends couldn’t find the right words to help me through certain situations, the staff members and Mr. Panton kept my mind from it all. Mr. Panton and my classmates became my second family and we learned to look out for each other.

My time here was amazing and I wouldn’t change anything about my high school experience. I wouldn’t change my friends or my teachers, and I’m positive that when I leave the University of Miami on June 10, I will graduate as a proud Miami Palmetto Senior High School alumna from the class of 2011.