By Laura Vaughn
Copy Editor
For the past three years as a member of La Vista, I have dreaded writing this article. This is not because I dislike heartfelt goodbyes or because I can’t come to some sentimental conclusion about my high school experience. Instead, I have dreaded my senior goodbye because I’ve never wanted to write an opinion piece.
I am most certainly an opinionated person. I know what I think and I know what I believe in, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that I feel the need to share those beliefs with my peers.
I came into high school as the quiet girl who likes to listen and observe in the classroom, not discuss my ideas. Four years later, I’m older, wiser and somehow still that girl.
Coming to Mira Costa as a student from the Hermosa school system, I had no idea what to expect. In middle school, I knew the first and last names of all 100 people in my grade and probably their parents too.
To satisfy my lack of familiarity with everyone and everything, I threw myself into electives. I played tennis, debated in Model UN, joined multiple clubs and became involved in journalism.
Through these various programs, I met amazing people that I never would have gotten the chance to know otherwise. I gained a dynamic and interesting group of friends outside of my tight-knit circle of Hermosa companions. Throughout my four years at Mira Costa, these people have been by my side as I’ve grown up and learned countless lessons about this crazy world we live in.
In high school, everyone takes a different course. Even though I chose to be involved in campus organizations, I know plenty of other students who chose completely different paths. Somehow, everyone turned out just fine.
Students often go through high school thinking that every decision must be controlled and calculated or else they will fail miserably. They view high school as a whirlwind experience that changes everything. I disagree.
Honestly, I think that high school is just the process of growing up a little bit more. High school didn’t change me, but it did give me four years to mature as an individual on my own.
As a freshman, I wondered who I would be when I graduated from Mira Costa. But what I have come to realize is that we decided who we are a long time ago.
I have undoubtedly changed in many ways throughout the past four years, but at the end of the day I know that I am never going to be the girl who wants to write for the opinion section. But I can’t imagine being any other way, nor would I ever want to be.
My experience has led me to the conclusion that you don’t have to change yourself; you just have to grow up and let life happen. And who knows, you might surprise yourself along the way. After all, I did write this article.
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