In life a lot of people tend to give up…especially students in high school.

High school can be full of fun, but it may be stressful.. My mom always taught me to never give up which lead me to write about this and to make other students understand that giving up is not the answer.

This is only my first year in high school…It’s eh, okay, there’s moments where I feel low and giving up but then there’s times where I KNOW that everything will be okay and that I will make the best out of my 4 years here.

It’s hard to make new friends, find you own friend group, stick with the same people or even feel like you have to change yourself in order to fit in, and that can be VERY stressful especially while still trying to manage the work, tests, and making sure that everything is up to date.

Then again, it’s HIGH SCHOOL…students mainly focus on who their friends are and the nonsense and drama.

Speaking from experience, I was always someone who just wanted to be happy and have friends, but obviously I made sure I played my part by making sure my school work was always done and always first. Starting in the 4th grade I was in School 24 in Paterson NJ, and no disrespect to the school, but it was horrible…I used to get bullied, not because I used to be mean to anyone, but because I stuck to myself, had good grades and had good qualities.

Ever since 4th grade I wanted to give up on myself, but I kept it pushing and thank god I got to change schools and made it to Hawthorne my second year of middle school which was 7th grade.

7th grade was very hard, I was new to the town and felt alone because I did not know anyone, but Hawthorne is a welcoming town and I was able to make new friends, and I can say I enjoyed my 7th grade year.

Then came 8th grade, the last year of middle school, and this was when the stress began again and the thoughts of giving up played a part once again…after wanting to give up in 4th grade, now 4 years later I  was starting to feel the same way again.. 8th grade was really hard, we were in the middle of the pandemic, students were online, I couldn’t really experience my 8th grade year when everything was done virtual, it was stressful and I couldn’t concentrate at all!

In the 8th grade my grades were not as good, I know I could’ve done way much better.. at the end of 8th grade, I did not get to graduate, and I wanted to give everything up…While I was thinking of giving up I noticed that giving up wasn’t going to relieve the stress and that it would make me suffer even more…so I continued to push forward…

Now I’m a freshman here at Hawthorne High School and I still seem to struggle, and at times while I’m home, I want to break down and give up, but why do I continue to do better and strive? Because I know I am capable of doing it…We are meant to struggle, take it for what it is and be able to continue…You might be surprised with the outcome in the end…