In high school, I went on this retreat to bring myself closer to my peers and my faith through communion. The name of this retreat was "Live Jesus," and it has been one of the largest traditions in my school's history. Leading this retreat was hands-down my favorite part of high school. I came out so much more knowledgeable from it, along with having grown in my faith in so many different ways. I had understood people that I never talked to in high school, some of who are my best friends two years later.

As a leader of this retreat, I had to give a talk - a testimony.

I was so unsure of what to say in my talk, whether or not I would open up to people I knew really well and some not so well. I had a lot of things from my past experiences that I could talk about, but was I going to do it? All throughout high school, I was known as the girl who had perfect grades, was generally athletic, reserved but occasionally outgoing, and had the "perfect life." Or, at least, it seemed that way to many. At the Live Jesus retreat, I was the last leader to speak, and I talked about my ups and downs, my trials and tribulations in life, and how they have helped me grow in my Christian faith. I shocked a lot of people in the room, even some of my good friends, who had not previously known of trials and tough times I had been through.

I ended my testimony by talking about how everyone has a cross to bear, just as Christ did.

I reminded everyone to remember that we are all God's children, and treating any of them as if they have everything "so perfect" just isn't accurate, and we should not in any way persecute one another, but instead, lift each other up. This is one of my proudest talks to this day, and I think it is an important message to relay as often as we can. We all have crosses to bear, so never forget to be kind.