The start of the 2022-23 school year arrives as students slowly walk into the building. Kids catch up with their old friends as they find their classes, some already look tired and the freshmen wander the halls looking a bit frightened for their first year of high school.

I had gone through my first day tired; I was just going through the motions. No class had stuck out, and I felt drained by just one day of school.

As the days passed and my routine in the mornings and throughout the day began to get old, I knew I needed to find something to look forward to. Still, every class went by slowly as I watched the clock tick and tick until the bell rang to mark the end of each period.

The days went by slowly until the second semester. My schedule had changed, and I was no longer as tired in my now fourth hour English class. Mrs. Kelly Barnes, English teacher, had always been one of my favorite teachers; however, English in the morning made it hard to focus, considering I had been in bed only a few hours before.

The time made such a huge difference, and as we got our essay assignments to write college essays, I began to feel proud of myself. I hadn’t even started writing, but I felt so confident that my essay would be good. 

I didn’t understand where all this sudden confidence was coming from, but as I began to write, I remembered the motivation my teacher from elementary school, Ms. S, said to me when I was the only girl in her math class. “Don’t look for other people’s validation,” she said, “do it for yourself and make yourself proud.” It impacted me for life, in ways that I still haven’t even discovered and as I wrote my essay, I wasn’t looking to get approval from my teacher or a good grade, although it would help; I was looking for the right words to help me start strong on my way to college.