When I think about high school, I usually associate it with something dull and long, like watching grass grow. However, since the end is here, I feel I am more than qualified to write about things I’ve learned during the “best years of my life”, as some adults would say. I wish that, on our first day at 205 Minuteman Drive, it was mandatory for us to read letters from the previous year’s graduating class about the things they’d wished they’d figured out before it was too late. Most of the life lessons I’ve absorbed these four years are some that were attempted to be instilled in a lot of us way back in kindergarten. My first life lesson came from the pale blue wall in my Kindergarten classroom at St. Pat’s. The words, “Treat others as you would want to be treated,” are some of the simplest words. As we read them, some probably think, “simple enough, right?” Those simple instructions are some of the hardest to live by. I’m not sure why it is that I failed to honor these basic instructions that were so fundamental in Mrs. Droppleman’s daily teachings. Perhaps it can be chalked up to a frequent excuse I use, “I just forgot to do it.” However, this year, I’ve been trying to refer to it multiple times daily. I’m not sure if it has to do with new friends that I’ve made, or the dissolving of other friendships, I’ve found that, with this simple saying, I’ve become an all-around kinder person. When I attempt to think of others feelings I’ve found it’s a lot easier to make the right decisions. The second realization I’ve had this year is that I don’t know anyone. Sounds a bit drastic, but it’s true. I used to form my opinion of people with little bits of information I knew about a person. However, when I thought of someone using that method to summarize me, I didn’t like it so much anymore. It’s a sad truth that, because we’ve spent seven hours a day, five days a week with some of these people for our entire lives; we think we know them and in many cases, that may be true. However, we think we can label people and pigeonhole them in our minds. Could it be possible for someone to be all parts: athletic, intelligent, funny and kind? Some of the best people I’ve met within these four walls are the ones who continually surprise me with their flexibility, moving in and out of the cliques and stereotypes. The last thing I’ve realized is that kindness goes further than you’d think. I’m aware that it might sound juvenile, but kindness is something many of our peers are lacking. The saying, “you don’t know someone until you’ve walked a mile in their shoes”, comes to mind when I think about kindness. We don’t know what others are going through at home or in their personal lives, so we don’t know what drives them to behave the way they do. Therefore, even when you think someone is undeserving of kindness, give it freely. I read that the true mark of maturity is when you are able to look at the people who have treated you badly, and you attempt to see their perspective. I am in no way saying that I have reached maximum maturity, but I can definitely see where this situation plays a factor in growing up. As we get older, try to overcomplicate things. There’s no secret to life, and there’s definitely no rulebook for how to handle growing up. It should be noted that the idea of wisdom coming with age is only sometimes true. Thus, we should look to younger children to see where we may have gone wrong not so long ago; they are some of the most tolerant and unselfish individuals to walk the Earth, and we could all take a page out of their booksEditor