Jackson, Senior

“Status doesn’t matter. I do not think of people as being rich or poor or popular or having no friends because you are going to find your people. No matter where you are, you are going to find people that are a lot like you. A lot of other people wanted to be popular in junior high. In Junior high everyone wants to be known by everyone else. As you go into high school and become a senior, you realize that everyone is sort of the same. It does not really matter. You will find your people. I would hang out with Tom Barta, Caron Faz, Tyler Harris, Nathan Hanlon and Isaac Moore. A bunch of people that graduated last year. Sam Casto hung out with us and he was really popular. Everyone really liked him. It was not like we were going out to parties and stuff, so whenever he would be with us, that kind of made me realize, like I said, you’ll just find your people. It really does not matter what you are doing or where you will be going because you will find people who are just like you. I think this is a good lesson you should learn in high school before you get to college. I do wish high school was a little bit more like college. My older sister told me the second you get to college, no one knows you. I think it should be the same way in high school. I feel like we judge each other a lot since we see each other every day. In college though, you are completely starting again and no one knows who you are. Whereas in high school, you have a reputation to uphold or you have already made a name for yourself and you want it to stay that way throughout high school. However, when you go to college you are there to do what you want to do. You will find people that want the same things that you do.”