ELIZABETH ALLEN
Gargoyle staff reporter
Posted Thursday, Sept. 17, 2009

REFLECTING UPON MY time I have thus spent at Uni, one thing is very clear: Time passes considerably faster than I can accept. As a senior, I no longer have what seems to be unlimited time in the messy viscera of this place; college and adulthood lurk in the corners of my eye.

So, what have I received for all the time I've spent here? Boxes of paper that I will never read again (but my mother insists on keeping)? Textbooks that will only gather dust? Or how about memories of procrastination?

In the past, I didn't gain much else other than the aforementioned.

Maybe a few life lessons here and there, but for the most part, I wasn't heedful or committed of my inner self. Why, I thought, should this year be a change from the past?

For one, I have likely sunk my teeth into more than I can pleasurably munch on this year, much more than I have before.

I'm taking the maximum number of classes, getting up at 4:45 a.m. to swim for Uni, completing college applications/visits/testing/agonizing, fulfilling my position as president of a science club, piano lessons, youth orchestra, and am making an effort to keep some hobbies.

My list may be undersized for some Uni androids, but I've never been one of those people who could do everything at once. Those who are able to achieve perfect grades, whilst participating in multiple clubs, five extracurricular activities, and still maintaining a social life perplex me.

But this year, things feel different ….

Because I feel different; something in my attitude and mental perspective changed this summer. I gained a new type of confidence, strength, and love that you can only find in yourself, one that is rooted in your heart and will hold you together.

I don't mean to say that I think this year will go perfectly; for a fact I know I will trip and fall multiple times. I'll turn homework in late, have bad piano lessons, get rejected from colleges, and be further confused.

But when these things happen, these anchors will be mine to grip on to when I fail, and motivation to get up again.

So I guess my point is this: I'm ready to take this bull by the horns, ready to carpe diem (seize the day). It's up to me to decide how this year will go and how I will feel at the end, and I think I'm finally ready to deal with this responsibility. The only thing I'm asking myself now is, how did I get this far without realizing that? I had to come to Uni to fail in order to realize what it takes to succeed.

In between moments of hectic work, I have had parents, teachers, and random adults ask me, "Are you excited to be a senior?"

After hearing this question so many times, it did finally hit me how close I was to the end, and it forced me to think about my last four years. It dawned on me that without Uni, I don't think I would have gained this inner strength.

I've been on the Uni High roller coaster, high and low, and learned things from both ends of the spectrum. I've hated being here as well as loved it, and Uni's been there, faithful to me all that time, compelling me to confront fears and discipline myself.

From all the experience I've accumulated, I am learning all the lessons I was supposed to learn a long time ago and actually implementing them, and I am very grateful for it. Some people never learn from their experiences, and never are able to push the limits of their potential.

So I want to thank you, Uni High, for being my home for one more year. It has only been a month, but I can already tell that this year will be one of the most decisive and significant of my life.

I can't say what will happen, how I will change, but I'm ready to run the race, and accept all the lessons you've prepared for me.