Four years of high school go by fast. If you are an under-classman, you have heard this countless times. My parents, older friends, and teachers all told me this before I walked into the halls of Xavier High School on my first day of freshman year. Now, as I enter my senior year, it is finally sinking in. After years of looking forward to the next year of high school and everything that comes with taking the next step up in the high school hierarchy I, and the rest of my 2018 classmates, have reached the top.
I can still vividly remember my eighth grade self wanting to be in the place I am in now. If I had any advice for that little 13-year-old Thomas sitting in the classrooms of Regis Middle School, it would be to appreciate the journey. Everyone has their own hopes and goals for their high school experience. For me, it was always based around soccer. Freshman year it was playing for varsity, sophomore year it was starting, junior year it was helping lead the team to a state final, and now, senior year is all about winning state. After three years, I have accomplished the goals I set, but that wasn’t the highlight. I found that the process of reaching that goal was often more rewarding than the goal itself. So often we are so obsessed with the destination that we don’t appreciate all the hard work and dedication that goes into arriving at that last point.
No matter where you are in your high school career and no matter what goals you set, make sure to take everything as it comes. Appreciate the sprints after a hard practice, the team dinners, and the long bus rides. At the end of the day, it’s the little things that add up to you reaching your goal. No one ever accomplished something great overnight. It takes time for our goals to culminate into the great feat we all dream of accomplishing during our four years of high school.