Growing up, I was always a very quiet kid. Being able to make friends was never easy, and when it was finally time to apply to high school, I was excited at the idea of going to a bigger school. It seemed like a really fun challenge. There was so much potential there, and I knew which one I wanted to go to. Honestly though, I didn’t think I even had a chance of making it in. A few months later, it turned out I had. It was an easy choice.

I was not ready for high school. I came in with zero social skills and no sense of self. I’d spent all my days before just studying to get better, and when I finally had more freedom than I’d ever thought possible, I was stuck. I wanted to connect with people, but had no idea how to do it, and ended up just drifting for a long time. I barely spoke to others and spent most of my free time just doing homework. Of course, I didn’t realize that this was a problem until I started coming out of my shell in sophomore year, but that first year was definitely terrible. No one knew who I was, and I don’t think they wanted to. It wasn’t anyone’s fault though, I just started to grow later than most.