As I began writing this column, I had several ways on how I wanted to start this. I went back and forth between whether I should spend the words talking about my high school experience and all of the hardships it has brought or all of the triumphs these four years have given me. As I thought through these ideas, I realized I would rather talk about what I have learned in my time here. 

The second semester of sophomore year was when I first came to Blue Valley and I was terrified. I was so scared that I dropped out of some electives I was previously involved in to take easier and less scary classes because of how terrified I was. 

I have always considered myself a person to get involved in and take on many things in my life; however, this new semester all I wanted to do was fit in and make some friends. 

As the years have gone by and I am now in my final weeks of high school, I look back at that little girl from sophomore year and am sad she decided to make those decisions because she could have had a thousand times more fun that semester than she did. It is in this reflection that I have learned my biggest lesson and piece of advice that I can give you all: What you put into something is what you are going to get out of it.

When you are put into a situation such as high school where you have access to an abundance of opportunities you have yet to experience, you should get involved in what makes you happy; however, make sure you are putting into them what you want out of them. 

High school is something we have never experienced before, and we will never get to experience again. I know for a lot of people that high school is something they wish they did not have to go through because of bad events that have happened, but I urge you to find something you enjoy in high school and put yourself into it because it will give you more out of this experience than you have had before. 

This lesson not only applies to high school but to everything you will get to do throughout your life. From your first job to when you go off to college, I ask you to please put whatever you have into those experiences because it will make what you get out of them so much sweeter. 

This lesson has been a blessing for me to learn, and I try to attribute it to my life now as I am about to begin a new chapter of my life in a completely different state. Throughout high school, however, this has not been the only lesson I have learned. The other piece of advice I have been so fortunate to learn is that it is not what happens but how you react to it. 

As we go through life, especially now, there are going to be several difficult hardships we are going to face, but it is how we decide to deal with those hardships that will truly shape who we become. You can take what happens and turn it into fuel to become a better and stronger person. 

Many things will happen to us, good and bad, and we have a choice in whether we want to run from it or face what happens head-on and allow it to teach us a valuable lesson.

I hope each and every one of you will grow up to be amazing people who have the best experiences in life, but I can not lie to you in telling you that it will be great all of the time. 

There are going to be parts that suck and push you down, but I hope you all can take the advice from the lessons I have been so lucky to learn and use them to help you get through the hard times you will face throughout the next several chapters of your life.