By Jeff Laux
The place I’ve called my home for the past four years has been beyond nice to me. There is no other school that I wish to have called my alma mater. Coming in as a freshman, man oh man, I did not know what I was getting myself into. Middle school was a full blur of good memories that included not having to study for more than 30 minutes for any given test while only receiving two homework assignments a week. Woh, high school hit me straight in the face. Pulling all-nighters to finish assignments, staying after school till dusk, and studying for hours upon hours for five given tests on a beautiful Friday. Besides all that mess, high school has been amazing to me. I’ve formed an immense amount of friendships and have found a couple of teachers who I will tell my kids about one day. Even if you haven’t found those friendships and haven’t formed any bonds with any teachers, you will reach it by the end of your senior year.
Freshie freshness. My freshmen year consisted of realizing that I’m supposed to awake myself at 6 a.m., be able to function throughout a long grueling day, and make friendships with many new faces. Mr. David Pitts, an AP Human Geography teacher that will go down in my books as a favorite. Even though the rest of my classes sucked, he kept me entertained in my first AP class ever by telling cheesy jokes and remaining level headed by the nonsense that my classmates put him through. He left Apopka, but he will never be forgotten:,( Every other class seemed bland and dry besides the time some kid threw his bag across the room and knocked someone over in my intro to tech class which resulted in Ms. Burkholder (a very odd old lady) call every administrator within the radius of 5 miles to her classroom to escort the kids out , good times. But anyways, I made a few connections through my freshmen year that will carried out throughout all of high school with my best friends Josh, Marc, and Alex.
Sophomore SLUMP. This year had to be my toughest. Again, I was still realizing that I’m supposed to wake myself at 6 a.m. and be able to take a beating of school work but now another obstacle climbed on into my life. What am I going to do with my life??? Well, I decided I wanted to keep singing in chorus but do something else with my time, which ended up being sports photography and journalism. This has been my final decision since then and now going to college and into the real world to prepare myself for a career in it. If you’re going to take AP World History, get it with the Jew himself, Mr. Anchel. This man hands down is my favorite teacher of all time. No matter what, he kept a sarcastic smile on his face on all time, while anticipating to create a humorous yet learning environment for each and every one of his students. Even though I received a two on the exam, which was the most depressing exam result of my life, he stayed as my father-teacher figure throughout all of the school years. The ending of my sophomore year had to the be the complete best as I fell in love with the love of my life during the last month of it.
Junior Dash. Dashing through Junior year was not a cakewalk. Taking 5 AP classes, trying to remain in a relationship, and being committed to chorus/journalism/water polo, caused for numerous late nights. The bond of friendships I developed over time finally revealed themselves each and every day as I would wake up early in the morning to stuff myself with juicy gamer talk with my nerdy, yet lovable friends. I made friends at Friday night football games while huddling on the field under the lights while capturing photos of each offensive snap, at water polo practices as my teammates would drown me all practice long, and as a chorus member. All of these things going on in my life during that moment is the reason why I feel that this year probably was the best year of my high school career. As my friendships remained strong, so did my grades which was the biggest symbol of this year for me. Commit, and remain strong throughout your final years.. Oops, senior yeay happened.
Seniorits +++ Wow, the year had cometh to have taken my soul away from the homelands of this school. No matter all of the nights I stayed up contemplating why I put myself in such sh*t situations or why I did this or that, it all ended up working out right at the end. It was all surreal to me as I still thought I was a Junior living my best life. But, I was whoopty whopped right in the face on the first day of school. The thought of being the top dog on campus made me understand why the senior class during my freshman year disliked everyone besides their class. Literally, if I had to stay at this school for another year with these new kids that have taken the block at the school, I would want to yank my eye sockets out. JUST KIDDING. Yikes, it’s just a culture change though. Each and every year new kids with the new attitudes, mindsets, and morals come sweeping through schools that are unprepared for the wrath of destruction. This year has proven to me that life is moving to fast to the point that I can’t even keep up my Fortnite tiers to the certain season… Anyways, my senior year was beyond a dream. Being nominated to homecoming court with some of the friends I grew up with and being able to sing with an ensemble named viva voce and being able to play water polo for the final season under Coach Russell, the Diet Cherry Dr Pepper prince all led up to the most fun I’ve ever experienced in school. This is the year you find you and what makes you happy in this revolving world of hope, love and sadness. By the end of your senior year, I hope you will find what makes you happy and brings you to the temple of jubilation In your state of mind. As it has done just that for me.
What’s next for me?
-Florida Atlantic will be my home for the next four years as I will be majoring in communications and hoping to be interning for ESPN as a sports journalist.
-Keeping a two-year relationship with my girlfriend Elizabeth Ann Spurlock because, why not?
-Attending concerts each month of my life down in MIAMI.
-And, enjoying life before the bell tolls among my soul 😊
Advice: DON’T GET LOST IN THE SAUCE.