A surreal experience by Alex Smith

As a freshman entering Cedar, I found the transition surreal. Compared to my middle school, Cedar Shoals was ginormous. I was constantly in the fear of getting lost and being late to classes. Thankfully, it took only a few weeks to get settled and understand where everything was. However, I began to get swayed away from being focused on my classes and began focusing on ensuring that I got within a group of people that I could hang around and begin establishing a clean reputation.
You see, to me, high school felt almost like moving to a new country. I felt that everything from middle school that I’ve done was left behind me, and this new building will house a “new me” where I could start anew.
I was getting side tracked persistently; that led me to the point where I struggled to keep focus on my grades – the important part of high school life slipped out of my reach due to me succumbing to my own person desires. I started failing classes. I started struggling to stay tuned with my assignments and homework and found myself completely lost when a test was tossed at me. Because of this, I bombed my freshman year. The remaining three years of my high school life turned into more of mental warfare above all else. If I was to graduate with my class in May of 2011, I was forced to pass each one of my classes in order to receive the next promotion the next year.
It’s easy to get side tracked by high school drama and dilemmas in your personal lives. For example, the most distracting occurrences that led me to losing much needed focus on the importances of my high school life ranged from something as simple as an argument with an old friend to having two of some of my greatest friends pass away in a car accident. Distractions, even if they are or seem tragic, can take your mind and sometimes even your care away from school work and your academics. Eventually, at that point, you (like myself) will begin spending your high school career struggling to make sure you can make it by and graduate with your class.
I’ve learned that I should continuously persevere through the hard work you receive in high school to lead myself to a less miserable life in the future. Despite the adversity and hardships you are bound to encounter during your four years here, strive to make something out of yourself through these short years. Even though the work may sometimes seem like torture, I guarantee you, the results that you look back upon when that diploma lands in your hands will be satisfying.