It’s the Thanksgiving season, and I make it an effort to take a moment and feel grateful for the fact that I live a good life. Now that I’m in college, I find myself even more grateful for the reasons why I am where I am. There are too many people to thank, but the point of Thanksgiving is to take a second to be thankful for the things you usually aren’t thankful for (and to eat food...lots of food).

So this year, I wanted to express my thanks to my high school. In general, I don’t pay homage to my alma mater very often. The allure of moving to Rowan and physically living at my school made me very protective of my university. The time for wearing my high school tee shirts are over, but it’s more than necessary to remember where I came from.

I wouldn’t be in my position in life if it wasn’t for my teachers and friends at my high school. Every school has its flaws and I assure you that my school was no different, but I will always say that my high school made me hungry for success in life.

Two of my friends during high school were valedictorian and salutatorian, respectively. Both of them made high school look like it was child’s play. They got good grades, did extracurriculars and were literally the model students of my high school. My mother told me once that people who you hang out with will rub off on you. I didn’t believe her. Once my circle of friends was made up of driven girls, I became driven as well.

I know that I was the one who pushed myself to do my best while I was at school, but I swear it would have taken me a lot longer to wake up from the lazy eighth grader to the driven person I am today. One of my friends who became valedictorian spent a crazy amount of time helping me through my rough spots in academics. She would help me out during class and study with me. She had enough patience to make sure I knew what I was doing.

To this day she tells me that I help her out as well and that her kindness was nothing, but I swear I’ll never forget it. How could I?

I'm thankful for my teachers because they showed me I had a love for writing. There were three who spent hours after school to coach our poetry team. Throughout the hours that they spent honing me and my fellow writing students skills, I completely altered my writing skills for the better.

One of the teachers even went above and beyond and edited a scholarship that I ended up winning. She literally made sure that I had every single tool to succeed not only in college, but in life as well.

My life as I know it today wouldn’t be the same if it wasn’t for the people at my high school who had the sheer kindness to help me along the way. It’s really hard not to be grateful for them no matter what season it is.