I’ve been reflecting on my past four years at Plainfield East lately, as soon-to-be graduates typically do. I’ve come to realize that as high school comes to an end, you start to notice a handful of regrets.

…Apparently, that’s a pretty common thing.

Everyone ends up wishing they took a certain class, joined a sport, or talked to a peer they always found interesting. I ended up in the same boat as a lot of my classmates, regretting not joining a group— or rather, not joining sooner. I’m not exactly known for East Side News; I only showed my face on the morning show in the last month. That alone felt like a leap, but joining the group in the first place was already a big step out of my comfort zone. The thing is, I didn’t expect to enjoy it— which is kind of funny, considering “try new things” is one of the most overused (and still very true) pieces of advice.

I’m going to regret not asking to be on the morning show earlier, just like I’ll regret not getting to know all of these incredible people sooner. But even though I was late to the party, I’m glad I showed up at all.

Also ironic that I was going to drop the class last semester because I wasn’t allowing myself to fully enjoy it, which is where Ms. Galvan comes in. She asked me for a shoutout, which was bold of her to assume she needed to ask. I’ve never had a teacher rise into my top roster of favorite teachers so fast. She showed me why East Side was worth it, even though rhetoric simultaneously killed me, towards the end I couldn’t bring myself to drop the class with literally only us two (and Dominic I guess). I’ve never looked forward to a class before the way I did this, which is why I’m forcing my little brother to take it his freshman year next year. As much as I wish the class was more known, like how I barely knew it existed until this year; the smallest part of me is slightly grateful that I had a small group to bond with. Hopefully East Side continues to grow with our great group of staff, and I’ll be eternally grateful that I was able to be apart of it

Even if it was for just a bit.