Can You believe It?

"I cannot entirely be critical of my past; I want to be able to appreciate it. I would hate the feeling of always having to tear down everything I was before in my life."
nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn
Sophomore year is a quarter of the way through! It seems as though Junior High was a couple months ago. Now we are picking out class rings! When I got my paper for the class ring, I immediately thought of graduation and how far away it seems. It's funny, elementary seemed like yesterday.

I can still remember everything about my kindergarten class. I remember that the teacher's pet iguana was afraid of the color yellow so every day I made sure not to wear that color. I thought my teacher was Cruella de Vil because of her hair color(s). I remember the earthquake in November, our butterfly garden, and the butterflies I got when Mrs. Nelson made me sit next to Miguel, only the coolest kindergartener in school. I remember my best friend, Esther, broke her arm on the swings and I even remember being taught "the right way" to glue paper. I would sometimes kill to go back to those days when all I had to worry about was what colors to wear and what blanket to bring to naptime. (I never did sleep during naptimes though my Barbie blankie was pretty awesome.)

On the other hand, I would not change a thing about were I am now. High school has been the hardest and best time of my entire life. When I left my old school, I left the friends I had had since kindergarten. The friends I have made at Whittier have been awesome and I feel like I have known them since kindergarten. Yes, there was no stress in kindergarten, but all the anxiety I feel on a daily basis in high school is nothing compared to all the fun I have had and the friendships I've made.

At the end of the day, I can smile and remember dressing up as the letter "F" for the school play in elementary but I can also grin about a techno homecoming. I can not complain about anything in my life. Everyone has been through alot in their lives and I am so grateful that I can look back on my life so far and remember the many good and the many not so good times with a smile. I have already learned so much in this life. I still have a hard time grasping the fact that God has so much more to teach me.

You all might not remember as much as I do about your "younger years" (which sounds so weird since we are only in high school) but I hope you can look back on your life and remember with a smile what is was like to be a kid. It is scary to think we only have two and 3/4 years left of being "kids." After that college and then marriage and then a family! Is not that a scary thought? It makes me want to stay in high school forever, but just like I sometimes feel like going back to kindergarten. I hope, however, life after graduation will be even better than high school. I know they say these are our best years, but why do they have to be? I hope every stage in my life will be better than the next. That's been my experience so far!