Dear freshman self

Hey freshman self,
One of the first things people tell you your freshman year is how fast high school goes by. They drill this into your head, that these four years will be the best and worst years of your life, and
they’ll be over before you know it. Now, you’re a couple months into your senior year and all you can think about is how everyone was right—high school went by way too fast. Freshman year felt like it was yesterday and so long ago at the same time. We’ve definitely changed a lot. Coming from a small Catholic school, Central was a lot at first. Courses were more academically challenging, the building felt huge, and you were slightly overwhelmed with the busy rush of your peers and the group of unfamiliar teachers you met on the first day. Over time, we learned to navigate the halls of Central with the “floor, side, room number” system, and along with this new chapter in your life comes new friends, new life lessons and new opportunities.

Your friend group changes and grows over time, but come senior year you have the best group of friends; the kind you’ll have for a long time. Not only do you have these strong relationships, but you also discover more about yourself. You develop your own sense of style and become comfortable with who you are. This was a long journey and we had some questionable phases, but we love every part of the process. You don’t know this yet, but 029 and the journalism department will be a pivotal component in your high school career. Joining newspaper, and becoming a part of the broadcasting crew, was one of the best decisions you made. Now, you are the editor-in-chief of The Register. Becoming so heavily involved in journalism also forced you to grow close with the teacher, Hillary Blayney. You would not have been able to navigate these four years without her. You look up to her not only as a teacher, but as a person outside of the classroom. She’s not at Central anymore, but you still text her daily with updates, rants, and countless pictures.
The college application process was hard, and so tedious, but you got through it and decided you’re going to become a Husker. You even received some scholarships, and plan to major in journalism.

It’s a bittersweet feeling, growing up. Cherish every moment you have with friends and the memories you make with them, because it will be over before you know it and you’ll be getting ready to move onto the next stage in life: college. But for right now, live in the moment and enjoy high school for the insanity that it is. So go out with friends on the weekends, attend all the
football games, go to every dance, but most importantly, remember that life is too short to stress over small things. These next four years are hard, but I promise we turn out alright.