I guess it's safe to say my journey these past four years at Ramapo High School has definitely been the end of such an interesting era. Waking up to days of finding out I had a Spanish test the minute I walked into class and my teacher yelling at me in a tongue that sounded like a mix of anger and Spanish (mostly anger), or the never ending drama that actually made me say "I hate everyone," probably nine thousand times a day, to me simply trying to figure out whether the pizza in the cafeteria was indeed pizza or just really artistically-crafted cardboard... (it was pizza; that tasted like the artistically crafted cardboard). What I really am trying to achieve in this article is to thank all the people that I was lucky enough to have and still will consider my closest friends, all the people that never gave me the time of day because you taught me to grow a backbone, all the people that talked behind my back because you taught me that rumors hurt but they don't matter, all the people that told me grades are everything because you taught me that yes they are something, something immensely important, but they are not what deems me to be smart, dumb, or something in between. Thank you for all the people that made stereotypical high school my reality for the past four years.

Someone once told me that, "the smartest people are the ones that get the straight B's and C's." I would be lying if I said I had never thought about what it would be like to be the valedictorian or what it would be like to make high honor roll all four marking periods, get this... in a row... beginning freshman year. I just giggled. OK, I'm sorry, I'll be serious now. Of course being the top in my class could have been possible and getting the straight A's everyone's parents want for their kids could have been the A's on MY report card, but guess what? They weren't. Could I have maybe had tried harder? One hundred percent. Could I have taken freshmen year a little more seriously? Two hundred percent. Were my parents hysterical when I got a D in Algebra I? Oh my God, that one is probably... no absolutely, infinity percent. Would my parents have been elated if I came home one day and said, "Babie, Mom, I'm the Valedictorian!" Probably. Now, would I have changed anything within my process of living, learning, and going through high school? No, absolutely not. Why? Because everything I did, the way I did it, the way I learned best, was the way that made me, me. That's it. It sounds so cliche, so corny, so cheesy, so whatever, I get it, I know. But why would I want to learn in a way that (a) wasn't the correct form of learning for me (that wouldn't do any good because if that particular way wasn't my ideal learning intelligence, what good would retaining information successfully be if I tried to be an aural learning when in reality I'm a visual learner?) and (b) was the way those around me wanted me to learn? I'm truly not trying to sound like this spoiled brat who thinks she's too cool for school (yeah I just said that let's all move on with our lives), and thinks it's overrated if you will, to want to excel and get those "100 percent Great Job Bob!" tests and papers back to back, because it's not overrated, it's just that me being the student that always got the high 80's, above average in English and Spanish, and a C- (cough D cough) here or there, is the student that I candidly am proud of.

As I stated before, of course ideally it would have been pretty cool to be the top in my class or have my name on the high honor roll board at the end of each quarter in front of the main office, of course somewhere in the back of my mind I did want that. However, on the other hand, as of today I am going to be a freshman at Iona College, and I am personally so proud and confident in myself for my enrollment to this school because I know I did that all on my own. Somewhere in my application, someone from Iona saw something in me that they were either impressed with or curious about or simply wanted to make an addition to their school. I mean who wouldn't be totally excited about that? Wherever anyone goes to school, they should be so proud of themselves because that is what life had in store for them; there is no right or wrong way to living life, every person has their own success and every person has their own route to fate. High school has taught me that even though things don't always work out the way you planned for them to, they will eventually work out. No one said it was easy, life wouldn't be life if everything was easy. What the heck is the fun in having an easy life? Where's the adventure?

Being an adult doesn't always have to be a chore; yes it's harder than being a 6-year-old running to the ice cream truck and your only homework being to color in a picture of Tigger from "Winnie the Pooh," but it allows all of us to embrace life in the way our minds were meant to embrace it. Individuality and accepting that everything happens for a reason is what made me accept what I am capable of, and with hard work and welcoming me being me without trying to be anyone else with open arms, is the way I can discover what more I'm capable of with the help of fate, faith, and being happy with myself and the goals that I one day aspire to reach.

Thank you, Ramapo, for one heck of a ride. You have taught me that I have mastered the art of procrastination and that life indeed has a lot in store for me in the future.

P.S. I'm proud to say I made high honor roll third marking this year. [Cackles.]