Your high school years will fly by, make sure you do not wish them away! I heard this so many times throughout the course of high school, but I realized by senior year just how true it was. My years at Padua went quickly. After being in college for a few months, I am beginning to feel nostalgic when I hear a song we would play during summer work crew or see snap chats of my underclassmen friends rehearsing for a play. I think it is good to look back and reflect on where you came from, so here it goes!

Padua Franciscan High School was, and will always be, a second home to me. My freshman year had turned out to be much better than I could have ever imagined when I began my high school journey. I can recall my first day of high school, jamming to Taylor Swift's "Fifteen" while I was getting dressed and receiving a text from my cousin wishing me luck on my first day. I was so nervous and filled with dread walking in that day, which is makes me laugh now. I was lucky because I made friends quickly without really knowing how I became friends with people. I met Rachel, my best friend throughout high school, because she sat at my lab table in Honors Bio. It was pure chance we would be sitting together, but it turned out to be an amazing blessing. Joseph, another one of my closest high school friends, is one of those friends who felt like we had been best friends since the moment we met. I do not remember even meeting him, but we had Italian together and have been friends ever since. Lauren and I bonded quickly over our affinity for theatre, since we both had not met anyone else who loved to be on stage in our grade. As I began my time at Padua, I decided that I wanted to be as involved as possible. I joined theatre and met such incredible and dedicated people. For example, everyone at Padua can tell you how much Mrs. P gives to the Padua theatre community, especially during musical season. My first musical was Thoroughly Modern Millie, which I had never heard of before, and I had the best experience dancing and singing onstage while making friends who would stay with me throughout the rest of my time in high school. Another club which really impacted my time at Padua was MockTrial. I did not know what I was getting into, but I joined since my sister was on the team the year before. I learned so much about law as well as numerous professional skills, while having a really fun time and meeting a bunch of great people! I had so many fun memories from my first year, and I was truly blessed to have such a great start.

My sophomore year was one to remember. I had basically every class period with Rachel and Joe and was able to strengthen my friendships with them. I also had some amazing teachers and classes sophomore year. I had Mrs. Schepis for Honors English first period. I cannot even explain all of the memories I had from this amazing class! One of my favorite memories would be drafting friendship agreements. Whenever someone would break a rule, we would throw squish balls at them, but when someone would uphold a rule, we would reward them with candy. We also had building animosity towards the other Honors English class and would tease them by pretending to tear up their friendship agreement. Also, whenever we had a free day, we would play Scatagories in attempt to beat Mrs. Schepis, which unfortunately never happened. Another class which shaped my year was Theatrics II. I was apprehensive going into the class since there was only eight people in it, and the only person I knew was my sister. But by the end of the year, I knew all of the people in my class so well and we had so many inside jokes. We even casted and directed a show together! It was a really great year, and I typically refer to it as my favorite year at Padua.

Junior year was a very stressful year with the overwhelming amount of homework and studying, but it was still a blast. My friends started driving, which meant we had more freedom to go get coffee or hang out (typically at the library) since we had a way to get there! I was involved with Padua's production of Pride and Prejudice adapted by Miss Gellott. This was such a fun show to work on, especially because I was the student director along side Miss Gellott. I was able to take care of some of the smaller details of the production such as blocking notes and t-shirt forms. I was at every rehearsal, so I was able to watch the show go from the very beginning stages to seeing the awesome, finished production. This was especially exciting since Lauren was playing the lead, Elizabeth Bennet, and my sister was playing Aunt Gardener. Another great experience I had my junior year was Kairos. Now this retreat is hyped up a lot. If you go just because you think you will come back and be best friends with everyone, that is not the case. It was a great retreat if you are there to spend time with God and are trying to find new ways to see God in your life. It was probably one of the most relaxing weekends of my life, and my favorite memories were taking nature walks with Alexis, Autumn, and Alex. I also really loved hearing personal witnesses and having jam sessions with Mr. Dirocco. This retreat was a good way to wind down the year. The final part of my year was Mary Poppins. This was such a fun musical to be a part of, and "Step In Time" was incredibly fun to dance and sing! Junior year was definitely memorable for me.

The summer after junior year, I spent at Padua. This was my second year on Padua's summer work crew. Although it was annoying to be at Padua by 7 a.m. every day of the week, I had so many great times with my friends. Playing Taboo, The Resistance, Pictionary, and BS with our squad was so much fun. I spent the summer with great people and made memories together that I will never forget!

Senior year went the quickest of all my years in high school. It was stressful and filled with drama, but it was also filled with fun opportunities and good friends. I had two of the best teachers I could have ever asked for: Mr. Larson and Mr. Ranker. Every day I was excited to go to first period because I knew I would be laughing nonstop due to Mr. Larson's incredible humor. I also loved the topics we covered in AP English Lit, such as Hamlet. Winning The Hamlet Trials will always be a grand accomplishment of mine. House of Lancaster was the dominant House in the War of Roses and beat all of the other class periods. This class really added so much joy to my year. Also, Honors Physics 5/6th with Mr. Ranker always made my day. Although I did not care to learn about physics, Mr. Ranker taught us in a way which made it fun for us to learn. I know that I will always appreciate the song "Heartache Tonight", never stop laughing at the pages of quotes we accumulated throughout the year, and always be a sorority sister at heart. The Girls of Grace retreat was another part of my senior year which was amazing. It was so much fun to have a few days to just focus on my relationship with God and hang out with the other girls on the retreat. The highlight of my year was my trip to NYC. My touring group was Nina, Autumn, Lauren, and Lizzy and I had so much fun getting to see this amazing city with wonderful friends. We were even able to see TWO Broadway shows, which led me to adding Something Rotten! to my list of favorite musicals. Coming back from New York, we finished our production of Shrek which turned out to be my favorite show I was in at Padua.

I would not have had all of these experiences if I did not go to Padua. It is so much fun to look back on all God has blessed you with, which can only make you think of the incredible blessing which will lay ahead in your life. I am so thankful for my time at Padua and would not change a minute of it!