I didn’t have intentions of making an article like this my first one, but, recently, the high school that I graduated from has been going through a series of unfortunate events with deaths and bad things happening. In these hard times, all those who have already graduated and who are still at the school come together once again to be there for one another.

With tweets and Facebook posts flooding my news feed, I began to cry. Someone once told me that high school is the best four years of your life. That, my friends, is a complete lie. However, I can tell you that it wasn’t the worst four years of my life. When it was nearing my time to graduate from high school, I went through one of those movie-like things where all the memories just flooded in at once. Looking back, I have a lot to be thankful for, the good and bad.

In those four years, I learned who I was and what my future held for me. In those four years, I got my heart broken, I ended and gained friendships, I failed and passed tests, I cried and laughed in front of my peers.

Thank you for all the sleepless nights of stress over the people I called "friends." Those long nights are the nights when I learned my self-worth. Through the pain of fighting and losing friends, I built thick skin. Entering college, this could be one of the biggest lessons that I have from high school. I learned the types of people I deserve to surround myself with and those are the people I began looking for in college.

Thank you for all the sleepless nights of stress over school. Another odd thing to be thankful for, but it helped. It helped for me learn to not get enough sleep from time to time (which proved very useful in college). It strained my mind and taught me that success does not come easy.

Thank you to my friends. It was on those late nights of stress and tears that my friends were a savior. Not only on those nights, but the lunch dates filled with stories and the late-night drives filled with throwback songs that brought happiness on the bad days. It’s kind of a bummer going to college and losing touch with all the people you grew up with, but its nice watching them grow as people and cheering them on from behind.

Thank you to my teachers. There were so many teachers who had an impact on who I became as a person once I left high school. The care and support my teachers showed and continue to show is something that I can never forget. It was those teachers who reached out to me and helped me get through the stressful academic and other parts of my life that I will forever adore.

And, lastly, just a thank you to everyone and everything at my high school in general. Thank you for the times we all gathered in the gym for the days we considered to be better than Christmas. These were the moments when I knew that no matter where we all came from and who we were, we were all one. I’m thankful for growing up in the “bubble” because, in these horrible times of misery we’ve been experiencing recently, I remember those days we all came together. It then becomes noticeable how connected my high school was. No matter what “group” you were a part of, at the end of the day we all care for one another.

High school is not the best four years of your life. But it's not the worst. If you take all the bad that happened in high school and turn it into good, you’ll learn a lot for the future. Although I’ve only been out of high school for a few months, high school is a place I once called home, and you’re always allowed to come home. I’m cheering for you all and if you’ve passed too soon, rest easy.